Snow Patrol

O2, Dublin Tonight/tomorrow 8pm €49.65/€44.05; Odyssey Arena, Belfast Mon/Tues/Wed 8pm £33

There’s little point denying it now: Snow Patrol have well and truly arrived at a point where they can book a series of arena shows and sell them out with no difficulty. They also have the back catalogue to bolster the shows, a veritable avalanche of singles and album tracks from their past few albums that will raise the hands if not the spirits.

And yet there's always a nagging doubt about Snow Patrol: that, despite their best intentions, they will fall at the final hurdle. Their latest album, Fallen Empires, is a case in point. A lot of it is good, but even in the "experimental" songs they seem out of sorts, almost as if they're trying to shoehorn their sound into something that just won't hold it.

For all of that, though, Gary Lightbody and his band know how to construct not only sturdy rock songs but also quite beautiful slower material. There’ll be a mixture of both, no doubt, at these gigs, delivered with professional panache and humour by a band that is one of the best of their type.

Can't see that? Catch this:Lanterns on the Lake, Saturday