Forest Live at Westonbirt Arboretum is one of the most lovely locations for a concert – that is of course if the weather is decent. Thankfully, for those of us headed to Snow Patrol on Tuesday June 17th, the weather was glorious.

With the stage set amongst the trees, the main arena was sold out and already crowded just moments after the gates had opened.

With the crowd split in two, one side for VIP Glade attendees and one for general admission, it seemed pretty easy to get close to the stage either way at any point.

After great support from The Florentinas and Freya Ridings (see our review here) Snow Patrol took to the stage after 9pm.

Kicking off with Take Back The City, Gary Lightbody had barely sang a verse before I realised he sounded the best he has ever sounded live. In fact, the entire band, tech, whole team were tight in terms of musicianship, queues, sound and lighting. Just one song in, I knew I was in for a great night.

Chocolate always sounds amazing live but it hit different in the arboretum. It reminded me of just how exceptional Snow Patrol really are and that their music is timeless. Before the next track, Lightbody told the audience how he would be playing music we knew and music we may not know but if we didn’t know the next song then they were “f*cked” With that, the intro to Run began. Run was, as one would imagine, an incredibly popular moment of the night and having it so early on the set list really warmed up the crowd and had them completely invested. It is a beautiful moment to see and hear so many happy people singing in unison. Lightbody just seemed more happy on stage than he has been in a while and he comes across so humble and kind with a lot of gratitude for his fans. A band so huge, he still seems in awe of it all. Another moment of joy and connection came from Shut Your Eyes which the crowd and band made sound spectacular.

A couple of new songs from the album The Forest Is The Path, Lightbody beamed about the perfect location playing it in an actual forest.

Make This Go On Forever has always been an incredibly moving piece. A firm fan favourite and a long song on record – live, it is even longer. The extended live version is powerful in the best possible way—the emotion in the lyrics, the sweeping music, and Lightbody’s hauntingly passionate vocals created a breathtaking experience, especially in the open-air setting.

Chasing Cars of course had the whole of Forest Live singing along and the crowd sounded beautiful. It’s a song that means a lot to people and there is a certain sense of healing being part of an audience singing along to one of your favourite bands and living out a nostalgic moment. This song will undoubtedly take people back to a particular moment in their lives, an experience different for every single person that was there in that moment.

Seemingly closing with You’re All I Have, the audience knew better than to leave and were of course treated with an encore in What If This Is All The Love You Ever Get? and Just Say Yes.

I have seen Snow Patrol live a few times now but it just felt more special last night at Forest Live – Westonbirt Arboretum. Perhaps it was in part down to the atmosphere, perhaps it was the setting but one thing is for certain and that is that Snow Patrol have taken back their title of being one of the greatest live bands going.