It was Snowpatrol’s third album, Final Straw, which cemented their reputation as great purveyors of melodic, melancholic and slightly mad guitar songs. Originally formed when Mark McClelland met Gary Lightbody at Dundee University in 1994, Snow Patrol (now including drummer Jonny Quinn) signed to Jeepster Records and released two albums, Songs For Polarbears (1997) and When It’s All Over We Still Have To Clear Up (2001). A spell herding an eclectic mix of Scotland’s musicians into The Reindeer Section (2002) followed for Lightbody, before a new Snowpatrol deal was struck with Fiction records. Guitarist Nathan Connolly joined and The Final Straw (2004) was created. Snowpatrol recently toured with Grandaddy and have been invited to support U2 in 2005.