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Snow Patrol’s Jonny Quinn has told how the band was overwhelmed by its Northern Irish homecoming and the reaction of the local fans.
The Bangor drummer said the four shows at the Odyssey Arena — attended by almost 40,000 people — had been the highlight of the recent UK and Ireland tour and that the Belfast crowd had outsung the rest of the audiences.
>>Video: Watch interview with Jonny Quinn
He also admitted to feeling emotional when the band stepped out onto the stage at the Odyssey for the first of their four shows last Thursday night.
Jonny was speaking as the band wrapped up the current leg of the tour. This weekend the five-piece will fly out to Australia and then South Africa, before returning to Europe for a number of dates.
Jonny said: “We were amazed by the turnout every night.
“We have such a sense of pride in Belfast. The singing along was some of the best on tour, even the O2 in London. We had some great nights on tour, but I think Belfast won on the singing factor.”
He continued: “There have been a few times where there was nearly a tear in the eye, then I have to realise I’m in a rock band, I cannot cry.”
He also revealed that Snow Patrol will begin writing material for their sixth album early next year.
The band’s current album A Hundred Million Suns narrowly missed out on the number one spot after it was kept off by Pink’s Funhouse.
It marked a departure for the band in terms of song-writing as frontman Gary Lightbody wrote the songs from the perspective of a happy relationship. Previous albums have seen the lead singer more angst-ridden.
Jonny joked that the new album could see a return to the heart-break of before.
“There’s plenty of time for Gary to be heart-broken again between now and when we start working on our new album,” he said.
He also said that he still found it hard to believe that Snow Patrol — who will support U2 on tour this summer — are currently playing to such massive crowds, compared to the early days when a good night saw 200 people attend their show.
“I think if we had sold out in the Duke of York back then it would have been great,” he said.
