After nearly two years away from major venues, Snow Patrol are making a gradual return to live performance ahead of the release of their new album in the autumn. Following festival performances in Luxembourg and Belgium, the band chose the iconic Thomond Park stadium for their homecoming show, featuring special guests Kingfishr and Pillow Queens.

A greying sky hangs over the home of Munster Rugby as Pillow Queens make their early evening bow, with February 8th the atmospheric opener on their new album ‘Name Your Sorrow’, a nice amuse bouche, before launching into crowd favourites Like A Lesson and Suffer.

This support slot is a perfectly timed warm-up for their biggest headline gig at Iveagh Gardens, and the band is clearly relishing the chance to fine-tune their set. Be By Your Side  and Gone stand out as particular highlights. The latter dedicated to the brother of lead singer Pamela Connolly, who, after nearly eight years, is finally seeing his sister’s band live for the first time, talk about brotherly love!

They finish off their performance with the magnificent Liffey after the tantalising revelation that they will return to the Treaty City and another date in Dolan’s in November.

Next up is local act Kingfishr, who have been making waves across the European festival circuit, including a notable appearance at Glastonbury. As the stadium fills up, their entrance is perfectly timed, and it’s clear they’re thrilled to perform at such a massive gig in front of a hometown audience. Kicking off with Heart in the Water they immediately have the crowd onside. Shadow and Leave keep the good vibes ticking over, before Shot in the Dark sees lead singer Eddie Fisher going on an enthusiastic front of stage ramble with his harmonica. The set is a feelgood Limerick sing-along culminating in the anthemic Caroline, a triumphant finale for the local heroes.

Snow Patrol to take centre stage to a haze of shimmering red (a nod to the evening’s locale, who knows?), and they blast in to You’re All That I Have sending the crowd into an instant frenzy. Gary Lightbody is clearly enjoying being back in the limelight and recounts that their last gig in Limerick was to 100 people in Dolan’s, a sharp contrast to the 30,000 here tonight. Take Back the City keeps up the early pace and the band are in impressive form, despite their frontman forgetting the lyrics of Call Out in the Dark.

The powerful anthem that is Run is dedicated to tonight’s two support acts. A glorious sweeping melody builds to a euphoric bridge, as the stadium fills with glowing lights and a chorus of voices, an unforgettable moment.

The Beginning, the first of a number of new tracks makes a less than impressive Irish debut, but Set the Fire to the Third Bar with a ghostly projection of Martha Wainwright, wrings the emotions beautifully, before the staccato chords of Chocolate gets the stadium rocking, and Open Your Eyes keeps the set bouncing along, and delivers an epic climax.

Things meander for a while before Gary Lightbody ramps up the energy, creating a highly engaging competitive singalong for Shut Your Eyes. The Lightning Strike (What If This Storm Ends?) proves to be an absolute tour-de-force, with a swirling starscape providing a mesmerising backdrop, and Chasing Cars is a sublime way to bring the main set to a close, with the audience initiating proceedings with a heartfelt serenade.

An almost isolated Lightbody returns for a gorgeous rendition of What If This Is All the Love You Ever Get?, a beautiful torch song that is lapped up adoringly, before the night’s revels climax with the heart-pounding positivity of Just Say Yes and the 30,000 strong crowd in complete abandon.

They might be a little rusty, but after more than twenty years on the road Snow Patrol showed once again that they can still deliver on the biggest of stages, with a performance worthy of the hallowed grounds of  Thomond Park.

3.5