Big-time rock stars since they hit it big with the album "Final Straw" nearly a decade ago, the members of Irish band Snow Patrol are now big enough to fill the Santa Barbara Bowl, which they'll do Saturday night. Ojai rock goddess Lissie will open the show.
"Final Straw," released in 2004, was the band's third album and its major-label debut. It went five-times platinum, a level of metallurgy that still has label bean counters salivating.
It's been all blue skies and green lights since, the dreaded creative differences notwithstanding. Snow Patrol tours all over the world, where the fans sing along because they know all the words to all the songs. The group's lead singer, Gary Lightbody, sings better than everybody, so there's that. During the struggling times, he had to sell his vinyl collection to keep the band afloat. These days, he has the time and the cash to go shopping for replacements as the band has chalked up tours with U2 and Coldplay, not to mention the requisite appearance on "Saturday Night Live." The group's growing and glowing résumé boasts a few Grammy nominations, too.
