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The Scottish/Irish band Snow Patrol are one of the biggest indie rock success stories to date, and they have made the transition from beer-stained clubs to concert halls with ease and grace. Few independent rock bands have the sound necessary to fill up an arena, but with their soaring ballads and aching harmonies, Snow Patrol pull it off with style. Of course, the band has a lot to be grateful for and success did not come overnight for Snow Patrol. Snow Patrol's sound has always been eclectic, veering from giddy power pop to thoughtful down-tempo tunes. They do seem to have a soft spot for melancholy ballads, and singer Gary Lightbody has a pure, choir boy voice that cuts across his band's noise and distortion. Though their success is fairly recent, Snow Patrol have been working hard since 1995 when several band members met and began rehearsing while attending University of Dundee in Scotland. Calling themselves Polar Bear, the band cheekily recount impersonating members of the Scottish supergroup Belle & Sebastian to get into clubs for free. Funny enough, Belle & Sebastian's musicians Richard Colburn and Stuart Murdoch would end up becoming quite friendly with the band and even perform on several Snow Patrol recordings, as well as in the all-Scottish collective The Reindeer Section. The band found limited success in the local indie rock scene with their singles "Little Hide" and the biting "100 Things You Should Have Done In Bed." As they grew more widely recognized, the band had to change their name from Polar Bear to Snow Patrol after getting into legal trouble with Jane's Addiction's bassist, who had a solo project by the same name. In 2003, Snow Patrol released their bittersweet breakthrough album Final Straw. Singles like "Run" and "Spitting Games" reached a wider audience than the band had previously found. Snow Patrol's follow-up album, Eyes Open, was an even bigger hit and their poignant single "Chasing Cars" was huge worldwide.

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