{"history":[],"article":{"id":"3c62918d-2d73-4c47-9851-885a5afb24dd","title":"Eyes Open Tour","slug":"eyes-open-tour","content":":::summary\n![Eyes Open Tour](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/EOtourposter.jpeg)\n**Concert Tour Name:** Eyes Open Tour \n**Image Caption:** Poster advertising Snow Patrol's Australian Tour of September 2007 \n**Album:** [Eyes Open](https://bliptext.com/articles/eyes-open-snow-patrol-album) \n**Artist:** [Snow Patrol](https://bliptext.com/articles/snow-patrol) \n**Location:** Europe · North America · Australia · Asia \n**Start Date:** 14 February 2006 \n**End Date:** 22 September 2007 \n**Number Of Legs:** 14 \n**Number Of Shows:** 218 (37 cancelled) \n**Last Tour:** [Final Straw Tour](https://bliptext.com/articles/final-straw-tour) (2003–2005) \n**This Tour:** Eyes Open Tour** (2006–2007) \n**Next Tour:** [Taking Back the Cities Tour](https://bliptext.com/articles/taking-back-the-cities-tour) (2008–2009) \n:::\n\n# \nThe **[Eyes Open](https://bliptext.com/articles/eyes-open-snow-patrol-album) Tour** was a concert tour by Northern Irish–Scottish [alternative rock](https://bliptext.com/articles/alternative-rock) band [Snow Patrol](https://bliptext.com/articles/snow-patrol) in support of their fourth album, [Eyes Open](https://bliptext.com/articles/eyes-open-snow-patrol-album) (2006).\nThe band visited numerous international venues from 2006 through 2007.\nThe tour is the collective name of many smaller tours and festivals Snow Patrol has played in support of their album.\nThe tour officially commenced on 14 February 2006 with a \"secret gig\" called SG#3.\nThe tour saw the band visit continents like Europe, North America, Australia and Asia.\nThe band headlined on almost all dates, and various acts supported them throughout.\nThe tour was however, marred by cancellations mainly because of vocalist [Gary Lightbody](https://bliptext.com/articles/gary-lightbody)'s throat problems and bassist [Paul Wilson](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-wilson-musician)'s shoulder injury.\nAdditionally, other events happened with all other band members, but no dates were affected.\nDrummer [Jonny Quinn](https://bliptext.com/articles/jonny-quinn) broke his arm, but no shows were cancelled as [Graham Hopkins](https://bliptext.com/articles/graham-hopkins) pitched in to take up drumming duties.\nKeyboardist [Tom Simpson](https://bliptext.com/articles/tom-simpson-musician) was arrested for drug charges, but was released in time for the next concert.\nGuitarist [Nathan Connolly](https://bliptext.com/articles/nathan-connolly) sprained his ankle and foot, but sat through shows until the injury healed.\nThe band visited countries like New Zealand and Mexico for the first time and played their first concert in [Southeast Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeast-asia) during the course of the tour.\nThe Eyes Open Tour also introduced the Tour Reporter feature, where fans were given the chance of covering their local concert.\nSnow Patrol finished the tour, which went on for a year and a half, in September 2007 in Australia.\nThe full tour spanned 214 dates and had 37 cancellations.\n\n# Tickets\n\n## Secret gigs and charity shows\nSnow Patrol's official website initially offered tickets for the secret gig SG#3 to registered members on the forum.\nIt was later announced that a limited number of tickets would be made available at [Virgin Megastores](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgin-megastores), Royal Avenue, [Belfast](https://bliptext.com/articles/belfast), [Northern Ireland](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-ireland) on 4 February 2006 at 9am.\nTickets for SG#4 were only available to members of Snow Patrol's official website through an e-mail which contained all details.\nWinners received a non-transferable [SMS](https://bliptext.com/articles/sms) ticket to their mobile phones.\nThis SMS message was deemed invalid if forwarded.\nAdditionally, these mobile tickets were the only way into the concert.\nTickets for Nottingham's [Rock City](https://bliptext.com/articles/rock-city-venue) went on general sale via the [Rock City](https://bliptext.com/articles/rock-city-venue) Box Office on 5 May 2006.\nTickets were priced at £22.50 each.\nThe official website ran a pre-sale for members.\nDuring the North American Tour of February–April 2007, the band played an intimate show for friend Diana Gualda.\nTickets for this show went on general sale on 8 February 1pm ([PST](https://bliptext.com/articles/pacific-time-zone)) via [Ticketmaster](https://bliptext.com/articles/ticketmaster).\nTickets were priced at $30.\nTickets for the show at [Live Earth](https://bliptext.com/articles/live-earth) were not available for general sale.\nFans were required to register within a three-day period, starting 13 April 2007 at 12:00pm.\nThe winners were chosen through a ballot, and they received an SMS containing details on how to obtain their tickets.\nEach ticket was priced at £55.\nThe official website held back a few tickets for its members, which were given out through a pre-sale.\nTickets for the show at [KOKO](https://bliptext.com/articles/koko-venue) were available for pre-sale from 25 January 2006, 9am from Snow Patrol's official website for 24 hours and were limited to four tickets per person.\nThe pre-sale password was posted on the forum half an hour before the sale.\nAny remaining tickets went on general sale on next morning from Gigsandtours and were priced £17.50.\nLater, the band's official website held a competition to give away the last two tickets.\nAll 1,500 available tickets were sold out in less than ten minutes.\nThere were no tickets for the in-store performance at the Virgin Mega stores, Dublin.\nEntry to the concert required a wristband that could only be obtained from the store at 9am on the day of the gig.\nThey were given out on a first come first served basis.\nThe official website held a last minute competition for members to give away the last 100 wristbands.\nTickets for the one-off O2 concert went on sale 18 May 9am and were priced at £25.\nThey could be obtained from the Xfm Xchange, the Xfm Online Ticket Shop, Ticketmaster and Seetickets.\nFor the secret [O2](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-o2-arena-london) show, the band held back 1,000 tickets from general sale, and gave them away to the website members for free.\nMembers were sent an e-mail containing details on how to win the tickets.\nTickets for the [Heineken Green Energy](https://bliptext.com/articles/heineken-green-energy) Festival went on sale on 10 February 2006 and could be purchased from Ticketmaster.\nThey were priced at €34.50 each.\nTickets for [T on the Fringe](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-edge-festival) went on general sale from 5 May 9am and those for Marlay Park from 12 May at 9am.\nPre-sale of tickets for [Marlay Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/marlay-park) went on till 10 May.\nTickets were priced at €44.50 and could be obtained from Ticketmaster.\nFans, later, were also given the chance to win tickets through a competition where they were required to answer a question.\nA similar competition was also held to give away one ticket for T on the Fringe.\nIt was later announced that more tickets were released, which could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\nTickets for the Eden Sessions were priced at £30 and were made available from Edenbookings.\nFor Get Loaded in the Park, tickets were available through Ticketmaster.\nThere was a special £20 early bird ticket scheme as promotion.\nTickets for BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend were given out free via a draw through Radio 1's website.\nTickets for Tennents ViTal went on general sale on 12 May 9am.\nThey could be obtained online from Vital06.com, by telephone or in person from Virgin and Ticketmaster outlets.\nTickets for the Isle of Man Festival were available only through the Islands Box Office or could be purchased by phone.\nThe tickets were priced at £32.50 each.\nTickets for the Splendour in the Grass side-shows were available from Ticketek and Ticketmaster.\nTickets for the Isle of Wight festival on 21 February 2006 via VirginRadio, and tickets were made available from usual ticket outlets like Ticketmaster 22 February 9am.\nTickets for T in the Park went on sale on 24 February 9am.\nThey could be purchased through Ticketmaster.\nSnow Patrol's official website held a competition to give away two tickets for T in the Park.\nFans were required to create a video to the soundtrack of [Signal Fire](https://bliptext.com/articles/signal-fire-song).\nTickets for the V Festival went on general sale on 1 March 9am.\nThey could be purchased through Ticketmaster.\n\n## UK and Ireland tour, 2006\nTickets for the UK and Ireland tour of 2006 went on general sale on 8 February 9am and were priced at £17.50.\nTickets could be obtained from Seetickets except for the Glasgow show which was through Ticketmaster.\nThe Dublin date went on general sale 10 February, and tickets were priced at €34.50.\nTickets could only be obtained from Ticketmaster.\nA competition was also held, where fans could enter and win tickets.\nThe winners were announced through a draw.\nTickets for the final dates at the Ulster Hall went on sale on 18 February, and were priced between £19.50 and £22.50.\nThey could only be obtained from Ticketmaster.\nAdditional tickets for the shows at The Forum were later released, which could be obtained through Seetickets.\nFor the additional date at the Wembley Arena, the official website members were given the opportunity of a pre-sale.\nTickets were priced at £23.50 (excluding booking fee).\nGeneral sale began on 21 May 9am, and tickets could be obtained through Ticketmaster and Seetickets.\nLater, extra seats for the 2 shows at Wembley were released.\nTickets could be purchased from the venue's box office through phone or online, through Seetickets and Ticketmaster.\nAfter the Wembley date, another date for the Odyssey, Belfast was added.\nTickets for this date went on sale on 22 August 9am via Ticketmaster.\nWhen tickets for the show sold out within three hours, an additional date was announced.\nTickets for this show were made available on 22 August, and could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\n\n## US tour, 2006\nTickets for the seven-date US Tour of 2006 were made available through different online services like Ticketmaster, Ticketalternative, Ticketweb, through tickets for the San Francisco and Boston shows could be purchased on venue.\nGeneral sale of tickets for the US Tour in May began on 8 April.\nPre-sale, exclusively for members had begun a few days back.\nPre-sales for later shows were held over the course of the next few months.\nGeneral sale tickets could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\n\n## European tour, 2006\nTickets for the Vienna, Utrecht and Zurich shows on the European Tour of 2006 went on general sale on 21 July and those for the Copenhagen show, and all the German, shows on 28 July.\nAgain, members on the band's official website were given the opportunity to purchase tickets early via a pre-sale.\n\n## UK & Ireland Winter Arena Tour\nTickets for the UK & Ireland Winter Arena Tour went on pre-sale to website members on 10 May 9am and continued till 12 May 9am.\nTickets were limited to a maximum of 4 per household.\nGeneral sale began as soon as the pre-sale ended.\nFor the additional Wembley date, which was later added, the official website ran a pre-sale where tickets were priced at £23.50 each.\nGeneral sale began on 21 May 9am.\nTickets could be obtained through Ticketmaster and Seetickets.\nFor the added Scottish show, the website ran a pre-sale exclusively for members.\nTickets went on general sale on 14 July 9am.\nThey could be obtained from Ticketmaster and Seetickets.\nThe tickets were priced at £22.50 each.\nFor the show at Bournemouth, the official website ran a pre-sale for members on 14 July 9am.\nThe pre-sale ended as soon as tickets went up for general sale, which began on 17 July 9am.\nTickets could be obtained through Ticketmaster and Seetickets and were priced at £22.50.\nTickets for the Manchester show went on general sale on 20 October 9am.\nTickets could be obtained through Seetickets, and were priced at £23.50 each.\nThe tickets for this show sold out in 38 minutes, so another show was added.\nThe other Manchester show's tickets were made available for general sale on 20 October.\nThey could be obtained through Seetickets and Ticketmaster, and were priced at £24.00 each.\nExtra tickets for select dates were released after the tour had begun, which could only be purchased online.\nFor the show at The Point, tickets went on general sale on 22 August 9am, and could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\n**European Tour, 2007**\nTickets for the European Tour, which saw the band playing in Germany went on sale on 20 November 9am via Kartenhaus.de.\nAn additional Dutch date was later added, and tickets for the show went on general sale on 25 November 9am ([CET](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-european-time)).\nTickets for the show could be obtained from Easyticket.nl.\n# [Ticket for the concert at the Heineken Music Hall on 5 February 2007 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/SnowpatrolEOtourticket.jpeg]\n\n## Australian tour, February 2007\nTickets for the Australian tour of 2007 went on pre-sale on 21 November and continued for a day.\nGeneral sale began on 23 November and tickets could be obtained through Ticketek and Ticketmaster.\nFor the New Zealand dates, the pre-sale began on 6 December 9am ([NZDT](https://bliptext.com/articles/time-in-new-zealand)).\nGeneral sale began on 8 December and tickets were made available through Ticketmaster.\nTickets for the second North American Tour went on pre-sale for website members.\nGeneral sale began on 17 and 18 November, depending on the concert dates.\nAdditional tickets for the Melbourne date were later released on 17 January 2007 at 9am.\nMore tickets were released on 19 January at 9am.\nTickets could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\n\n## North American tour, February–April 2007\nTickets for the tour went on general sale on 17 and 18 November 2006.\nSnow Patrol's official website members were given a pre-sale opportunity.\nA show in Chicago was announced later, and tickets for this show went on general sale on 2 December 12 pm ([CST](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-time-zone-americas)), and could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\nA few days before, the official website held a pre-sale for its members.\nShows in Portland, Houston, Denver and Washington, D.C. were later added.\nTickets for the Portland, Denver and Washington shows went on general sale on 9 December 10 am and those for Houston on 8 December 5pm.\nThree dates for Seattle, Universal City and San Francisco were later added.\nTickets for these shows went on pre-sale for the official website members.\nGeneral sale began on 16 and 17 December.\nTickets could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\n\n## Japanese tour, April 2007\nTickets for the Japanese tour went on pre-sale exclusively for members of the band's official website on 1 September and continued till 4 September.\nGeneral sale of tickets started on 16 September, which could be obtained from Eplus.jp.\nAfter the shows were rescheduled, tickets for the new dates went on general sale 23 December.\nTickets for the original shows were deemed valid for each revised date, and an option of a refund was offered.\n\n## North American tour, July–August 2007\nThis leg of the tour saw the band play in Mexico for the first time.\nTickets for this show went on sale on 28 January, were priced at 350 pesos, and could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\n\n## Australian tour, September 2007\nThe final leg of the tour was in Australia and New Zealand.\nTickets for the Australian dates went on sale on 15 June via Ticketek.\nA pre-sale was held before the said date for website members.\nTo add to it, the band offered a copy of [Final Straw](https://bliptext.com/articles/final-straw) for every purchased ticket.\nTickets for the New Zealand shows 18 July via Ticketek and Ticketmaster.\nMembers again were given the chance of getting tickets early via a pre-sale.\n\n# Secret gigs\nTo generate buzz about the then upcoming album, Snow Patrol played a secret gig in Belfast in mid-February.\nThe show was dubbed SG#3.\nLater, Snow Patrol's official website announced another secret gig, dubbed SG#4, in conjunction with [Vodafone](https://bliptext.com/articles/vodafone) as part of their \"To Be Announced\" feature.\nIt was held at the Royal Opera House in London on 26 April 2:30pm.\nSnow Patrol debuted three new songs for the 200-strong crowd: \"[Hands Open](https://bliptext.com/articles/hands-open)\", \"[Chasing Cars](https://bliptext.com/articles/chasing-cars)\" and \"Make This Go on Forever\".\nThe concert was later shown on [E4](https://bliptext.com/articles/e4-channel) the same weekend and [Channel 4](https://bliptext.com/articles/channel-4) on 5 May 11pm.\n

\"Open Your Eyes\"\n

\"Tiny Little Fractures\"\n\n# European Tour (Leg I)\nAfter the secret gigs and the KOKO show, Snow Patrol kicked off touring for Eyes Open by undertaking a small European tour.\nThe tour included an acoustic show by Lightbody and Connolly for Dutch channel [3VOOR12](https://bliptext.com/articles/3voor12).\n# [Nathan Connolly and Gary Lightbody in session for 3VOOR12 on 8 March 2006. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Nathan///Connolly///%26///Gary///Lightbody///at///3VOOR12///session.jpg]\n\n# US Tour (Leg I)\nAfter the European Tour winded, the band headed to the United States to play a further 7 dates.\nOne of these dates was at the SXSW Festival.\nThough the tour was called US Tour, it included a lone date in Canada.\nDuring the tour, the band played an intimate session for [AOL Music](https://bliptext.com/articles/aol) in [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan).\nThis performance was later released as a live [EP](https://bliptext.com/articles/extended-play) on the [iTunes Store](https://bliptext.com/articles/itunes-store) as [sessions@AOL](https://bliptext.com/articles/sessions-aol-snow-patrol-ep).\n\n# UK & Ireland Tour\nSnow Patrol undertook a short UK & Ireland Tour to coincide with the release of Eyes Open on 1 May.\nThe tour began at Dublin Castle (at the Heineken Green Energy Festival) and was to finish with two nights at The Forum, London.\nBut due to tickets selling out quickly and the success of SG#3, an additional date was added at the Ulster Hall.\nLater, support acts were confirmed.\nA news item on the official website said that the band intended to include different acts on different dates.\n\n# US Tour (Leg II)\nSnow Patrol next did a month-long tour of US and Canada, following a hugely successful SXSW appearance and a sold out US Tour in March.\n[The Duke Spirit](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-duke-spirit) and [Augustana](https://bliptext.com/articles/augustana-band) were booked as support acts.\nThe tour included an in-store performance at [HMV](https://bliptext.com/articles/hmv-group) to kick off the Canadian dates.\nAn autograph session was held after the set.\nThe band chose [Denver](https://bliptext.com/articles/denver) specifically to be the location of the first concert.\nThey had kept the city as a surprise location on a previous tour two years before and had visited there for the first time, expect lukewarm reaction.\nHowever, the concert sold out and the band had made it a point to return in the future.\nA few shows were initially cancelled as vocalist [Gary Lightbody](https://bliptext.com/articles/gary-lightbody)'s voice had worn out.\nHe was advised by his doctor to take a week's rest before the tour as he had developed [laryngitis](https://bliptext.com/articles/laryngitis) (polyps on vocal cords), but he preferred not to because of the pre-booked tour.\nTests later showed that Lightbody's voice had not healed at all, he had lost his top range, and the band was forced to cancel all remaining shows.\nThe cancelled shows were rescheduled to the end of the tour.\nLightbody credited the band's agent and managers for their quick work.\nHowever, the first two rescheduled shows had to be cancelled as part of the band couldn't get flight tickets to the US due to flight delays caused by the [Heathrow Terrorist Plot](https://bliptext.com/articles/2006-transatlantic-aircraft-plot).\nConnolly and Simpson made it to the US, but the rest of the band couldn't. Later, a whole new set of dates was announced with two additional radio shows.\nAfter getting his voice back, Lightbody gave up drinking on tour in order to preserve his voice, on advice on his doctor (who also works with pop singer [Celine Dion](https://bliptext.com/articles/celine-dion)).\nAlthough he felt ashamed of it before, he hired a vocal coach after finding that [Johnny Rotten](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-lydon) had one when he was a [Sex Pistol](https://bliptext.com/articles/sex-pistols).\nHe also started to do vocal warm-ups before shows, and requested a separate area for him to do his exercises, away from \"the band laughing at [him].\"\nAugustana returned as the support act for all rescheduled shows, and [Martha Wainwright](https://bliptext.com/articles/martha-wainwright), who had previously worked with the band for the song \"[Set the Fire to the Third Bar](https://bliptext.com/articles/set-the-fire-to-the-third-bar)\", supported the band on a select few dates.\nOn 29 August, the band appeared as musical guests on [The Tonight Show](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-tonight-show).\nThe band performed \"[Chasing Cars](https://bliptext.com/articles/chasing-cars)\", which was #6 on the [singles chart](https://bliptext.com/articles/billboard-hot-100) in the United States then.\n\n# European Tour (Leg II)\nIn October, Snow Patrol embarked on a second European Tour.\nThe tour saw them visit countries like Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and France.\nArtists like The Cinematics, Declan O'Rourke, Asyl and Joseph D'Anvers supported the band throughout the tour on different dates.\nMidway through the tour, bassist [Paul Wilson](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-wilson-musician) injured his left arm and shoulder.\nHe was having a little muscle strain, but he ignored the pain and carried on playing.\nIt then built up and became too much for him to play on-stage.\nAs a result, four French and two German shows were cancelled.\n# [Snow Patrol at the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg on 11 October 2006. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Snow///Patrol///Band.jpg]\n\n# UK & Ireland Winter Arena Tour\nSnow Patrol embarked on a tour of the UK & Ireland in winter 2006, which they headlined.\nThey were supported on by a number of support acts.\nThe tour kicked off in late November and continued till the end of December.\nThe tour included shows at the historic [Point Theatre](https://bliptext.com/articles/point-theatre) in Dublin.\nThe tour was played in two legs.\nMidway thorough the tour, the band headed to the US to play some radio shows.\nMartha Wainwright was replaced as female lead vocalist for \"Set the Fire to the Third Bar\" because of her commitments in the studio.\n[Lisa Hannigan](https://bliptext.com/articles/lisa-hannigan), who had previously worked with Gary Lightbody on the song \"[Some Surprise](https://bliptext.com/articles/some-surprise)\" for the charity album [The Cake Sale](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-cake-sale-album), and Miriam Kaufmann, longtime friend of the band joined the band on tour as touring members, singing female vocals on the song for one half of the tour each.\n[Iain Archer](https://bliptext.com/articles/iain-archer) and [Declan O'Rourke](https://bliptext.com/articles/declan-o-rourke) were recruited to play acoustic guitar, with Lightbody praising them as two of the best guitar players and two of the most favorite people the band had ever met.\nBen Dumville and Colm MacAthlaoich played trumpet on \"[An Olive Grove Facing the Sea](https://bliptext.com/articles/an-olive-grove-facing-the-sea)\", as they'd always done.\nThe tour saw the band play a 21-song set, which included the band's first release \"[Starfighter Pilot](https://bliptext.com/articles/starfighter-pilot-song)\".\n

\"The Finish Line\"\n

\"Open Your Eyes\"\n

\"Tiny Little Fractures\"\n# [Gary Lightbody at the SECC on 16 December 2006. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Gary///Lightbody.jpg]\n\n# US Christmas radio shows\nIn the middle of the Winter Arena Tour, Snow Patrol headed to the United States to play a few radio shows.\nThey resumed the second leg of the Winter Arena Tour after finishing playing on these shows.\n\n# European Tour (Leg III)\nSnow Patrol kicked off touring for 2007 by doing a short, four date tour of Germany.\nAn additional date in Amsterdam was added later.\nAhead of the tour, drummer [Jonny Quinn](https://bliptext.com/articles/jonny-quinn) broke his arm in a [snowboarding](https://bliptext.com/articles/snowboarding) accident in the [French Alps](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-alps).\nThe band had to cancel several of their shows before on the tour when bassist Paul Wilson injured his arm and shoulder and when vocalist Gary Lightbody developed laryngitis and lost his voice.\nNot wanting to cancel shows, the band recruited longtime friend [Graham Hopkins](https://bliptext.com/articles/graham-hopkins) to replace Quinn.\nHopkins got one rehearsal to learn his drum parts before the tour dates began.\nQuinn was expected to return for the Australian Tour, but however, his injuries healed in time for the North American tour which started late February 2007.\n\n# Australian Tour (Leg I)\nSnow Patrol played a short, three-date tour of Australia in mid-February.\nThey were supported by Australian bands [Howling Bells](https://bliptext.com/articles/howling-bells) and [Red Riders](https://bliptext.com/articles/red-riders).\nThe shows were Snow Patrol's largest Australian shows then.\nTo celebrate the album reaching #1 in New Zealand, the band added a date for New Zealand on the tour.\nThis show became their first ever in the country.\nHopkins continued to drum on this tour for the still injured Quinn.\n\n# North American Tour (Leg I)\nAfter the Australian tour, Snow Patrol headlined a North American Tour.\nSupport acts for all shows were [OK Go](https://bliptext.com/articles/ok-go) and [Silversun Pickups](https://bliptext.com/articles/silversun-pickups).\nThe tour schedule had them covering various cities in the United States, playing a few dates in Canada and playing their first ever show in [Mexico](https://bliptext.com/articles/mexico).\nThe Mexican show, though had to be cancelled as the band was unaware of the 48-hour wait to get their equipment through customs.\nThe show was rescheduled to 26 July.\nQuinn returned to resume drumming duties on this tour.\nMidway through the tour however, lead guitarist [Nathan Connolly](https://bliptext.com/articles/nathan-connolly) badly sprained his foot and ankle.\nThough it was not possible for him to put any weight on his foot, the management assured fans that no shows would be cancelled and Connolly would most likely be sitting in the shows.\nThe tour began in February end and continued till mid-April, after which the band headed to Japan to play shows that had been rescheduled from February.\n

\"The Finish Line\"\n

\"Open Your Eyes\"\n

\"Hands Open\"\n\n# Japanese Tour\nAfter playing successfully at the Fuji Rock Festival in the summer, the band returned to Japan in 2007 to play a short four date tour.\nThe shows, scheduled to be held in February were cancelled and rescheduled to April.\nTickets for the previous shows were deemed valid for the new dates.\n\n# North American Tour (Leg II)\nAfter spending the summer playing at various rock festivals, Snow Patrol headlined another North American Tour.\n[Hot Hot Heat](https://bliptext.com/articles/hot-hot-heat) acted as the support on all dates of the tour.\nThe tour saw the band visit various venues in US and Canada.\nThe tour also included a lone date in Mexico City, which was the earlier show on the previous North American Tour that had to be cancelled.\nIn between the tour, the band also played at the [Lollapalooza Festival](https://bliptext.com/articles/lollapalooza).\nIt was later announced that the band was forced to cancel the last two shows.\nA refund was offered to the fans who bought tickets.\nThe tour began in mid-July and continued till early August.\n\n# One-off shows\nOn [Zane Lowe](https://bliptext.com/articles/zane-lowe)'s radio show aired on 24 January 2006, it was announced that Snow Patrol were to play a one-off show at KOKO on 12 April.\nThe band was supported by [The Spinto Band](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-spinto-band) & [Desert Hearts](https://bliptext.com/articles/desert-hearts-band), which would go on to again support Snow Patrol on their UK & Ireland Tour.\nLater, a day before kicking off their UK & Ireland Tour of May 2006, the band played a lone date at the Virgin Megastores in [Dundrum](https://bliptext.com/articles/dundrum-dublin).\nWhile playing at various music festivals in July 2006, the band played a one-off show in Leeds.\nThey were supported by [Ed Harcourt](https://bliptext.com/articles/ed-harcourt) on the show.\nIn August 2006, while playing at various rock festivals around Europe, the band played a lone show at Douglas, Isle of Man.\n[Republic of Loose](https://bliptext.com/articles/republic-of-loose) supported them at the concert.\nIn September 2006, they played an acoustic show for [Virgin Radio](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgin-radio) listeners.\nBefore the show, the band signed an [Epiphone](https://bliptext.com/articles/epiphone) SG Special guitar, which was given away on [Ben Jones](https://bliptext.com/articles/ben-jones-dj)' Most Wanted show two days later, when the concert was broadcast.\nSnow Patrol played at [National Public Radio](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-public-radio)'s [World Cafe](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-cafe-radio-program) in February 2007, a session that could be heard on nearly 200 stations around the world.\nThe band played for the Philadelphia station [WXPN](https://bliptext.com/articles/wxpn).\nThe set was rebroadcast on 3 and 5 March 2007.\nIn June 2007, the band played two one-off shows, one at London's O2 Arena, and another at King Tut's. The show at King Tut's was free and sponsored by [Xfm](https://bliptext.com/articles/xfm).\nAt the London show, the band was supported by [Ash](https://bliptext.com/articles/ash-band) and [The Twilight Sad](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-twilight-sad).\nThis was the last UK headline show Snow Patrol played in 2007.\nIt was later announced that there would a secret show at the O2 on the 27th, the night before the known date.\nThe show was specially [O2](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-o2-arena-london), to thank the workers involved in the redevelopment of the arena and the local community.\nSnow Patrol returned to [Bangor](https://bliptext.com/articles/bangor-county-down), hometown to founding members Lightbody and Quinn in September.\nThey organized a mini festival, which featured various support acts – Ash, [The Dead 60s](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-dead-60s), [Simple Kid](https://bliptext.com/articles/simple-kid), Kowalski and [We Are Scientists](https://bliptext.com/articles/we-are-scientists).\n\n# Festivals\nSnow Patrol made appearances at various music festivals throughout the tour for Eyes Open.\nKeyboardist [Tom Simpson](https://bliptext.com/articles/tom-simpson-musician) was arrested on 7 July 2007, which put the band's headlining set the next day (at T in the Park) in jeopardy.\nHe was held at London's [Heathrow Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/london-heathrow-airport) on the suspicion of possessing Class A drugs, mere hours after the band played at [Live Earth](https://bliptext.com/articles/live-earth), which made him miss the [Oxegen Festival](https://bliptext.com/articles/oxegen-2007) performance that night.\nThe band had started searching for a replacement for Simpson, who however was released in time to play at T in the Park.\nThe appearance at Bangkok's 100 Rock Festival marked the first time the band played in [Southeast Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeast-asia).\nAt Lollapalooza, the band was joined by Silversun Pickups' bassist Nikki Monninger to sing Martha Wainwright's vocal parts on \"Set the Fire to the Third Bar\".\n\n## Side shows\nSnow Patrol played a special surprise acoustic set a day before their headlining set at SXSW 2006.\nAfter the band's performance at Splendour in the Grass, the band played two side-shows in Australia before heading to South Korea for the Pentaport Rock Festival.\n[Starky](https://bliptext.com/articles/starky) supported them on both dates, apart from the concert at the Splendour in the Grass festival.\n\n# Charity events\nSnow Patrol played an intimate charity show at Rock City on 16 July.\nThe show was organized in aid of Cancerbackup, who provide information and support for cancer sufferers and their families.\nAll proceeds from the show went to Cancerbackup.\nThe band played a special, intimate acoustic show on 3 March in aid of friend, photographer Diana Gualda, who suffers from [multiple sclerosis](https://bliptext.com/articles/multiple-sclerosis).\nThe band also played at Live Earth, an annual event developed to [combat climate change](https://bliptext.com/articles/climate-change-mitigation).\nKeyboardist Tom Simpson was arrested a few hours after playing at the event.\n\n# Australian Tour (Leg II) and end of tour\nSnow Patrol returned to Australia in September, to headline their biggest tour down under at the time.\nSupport for the tour came from Silversun Pickups, who had previously supported the band on their North American Tour, and [Iain Archer](https://bliptext.com/articles/iain-archer), past touring member and songwriting collaborator.\nTwo dates in New Zealand were announced later.\nThis marked only the second time the band had toured there.\nSupport for the dates came from Iain Archer and [Opshop](https://bliptext.com/articles/opshop) on one date.\nThis leg of the Australian Tour marked the end of the touring for Eyes Open.\nThe tour officially ended on 22 September 2007.\nTo mark the event, Gary Lightbody posted a blog on Snow Patrol's official website about his experience in Australia and discussed the band's future plans.\n

\"The Finish Line\"\n

\"Open Your Eyes\"\n

\"You're All I Have\"\n\n# Tour Reporter\nThe Eyes Open Tour was the first Snow Patrol tour to feature tour reporters.\nIt was first introduced ahead of the North American Tour of 2006.\nFans interested in becoming tour reporters were required to fill in their details and tell why they were the ones for the job.\nOne winner was chosen from each town where the band was to play a show.\nEach tour reporter received two tickets and a photo pass for the respective show.\nThey were required to send the band photos of the show and write a blog sharing their experience.\nThe photos and blogs were then posted on Snow Patrol's official website.\nThe idea was a success, so the same concept was again introduced for the next leg of the tour, which saw the band play in Europe.\nThe next leg, the UK & Ireland Winter Arena Tour also featured fan tour reporters.\nThis time, two fans were chosen as winners for each show to be the official Snow Patrol Tour Reporters.\nSnow Patrol took the tour reporter feature \"to the next level\" for the Australian, New Zealand, Japanese and North American tours of February–April 2007.\nThis time, two fans are chosen as winners for each date specifically to handle the job of reporter and photographer.\nThe method of applying for the job was the same as before.\nThis feature was dubbed as \"Tour Reporter Pro\", and it saw Diana Gualda cover her own benefit show.\nAs the time came for Snow Patrol to play at the Isle of Wight Festival, a new feature of the tour reporter, dubbed \"Tour Reporter Lite\" was introduced.\nThis enabled anybody who was to see the band perform at the festival to share their experience and photos from the event with everyone.\nFans were required to log in the member's area and post in the tour reporters section.","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-26T11:53:19.550Z","updated_at":"2025-01-26T11:53:19.550Z","search_vector":"'eye':1 'open':2 'tour':3","search_content":" \n \n**Concert Tour Name:** Eyes Open Tour \n**Image Caption:** Poster advertising Snow Patrol's Australian Tour of September 2007 \n**Album:** [Eyes Open](https://bliptext.com/articles/eyes-open-snow-patrol-album) \n**Artist:** [Snow Patrol](https://bliptext.com/articles/snow-patrol) \n**Location:** Europe · North America · Australia · Asia \n**Start Date:** 14 February 2006 \n**End Date:** 22 September 2007 \n**Number Of Legs:** 14 \n**Number Of Shows:** 218 (37 cancelled) \n**Last Tour:** [Final Straw Tour](https://bliptext.com/articles/final-straw-tour) (2003–2005) \n**This Tour:** Eyes Open Tour** (2006–2007) \n**Next Tour:** [Taking Back the Cities Tour](https://bliptext.com/articles/taking-back-the-cities-tour) (2008–2009) \n \n\n# \nThe **[Eyes Open](https://bliptext.com/articles/eyes-open-snow-patrol-album) Tour** was a concert tour by Northern Irish–Scottish [alternative rock](https://bliptext.com/articles/alternative-rock) band [Snow Patrol](https://bliptext.com/articles/snow-patrol) in support of their fourth album, [Eyes Open](https://bliptext.com/articles/eyes-open-snow-patrol-album) (2006).\nThe band visited numerous international venues from 2006 through 2007.\nThe tour is the collective name of many smaller tours and festivals Snow Patrol has played in support of their album.\nThe tour officially commenced on 14 February 2006 with a \"secret gig\" called SG#3.\nThe tour saw the band visit continents like Europe, North America, Australia and Asia.\nThe band headlined on almost all dates, and various acts supported them throughout.\nThe tour was however, marred by cancellations mainly because of vocalist [Gary Lightbody](https://bliptext.com/articles/gary-lightbody)'s throat problems and bassist [Paul Wilson](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-wilson-musician)'s shoulder injury.\nAdditionally, other events happened with all other band members, but no dates were affected.\nDrummer [Jonny Quinn](https://bliptext.com/articles/jonny-quinn) broke his arm, but no shows were cancelled as [Graham Hopkins](https://bliptext.com/articles/graham-hopkins) pitched in to take up drumming duties.\nKeyboardist [Tom Simpson](https://bliptext.com/articles/tom-simpson-musician) was arrested for drug charges, but was released in time for the next concert.\nGuitarist [Nathan Connolly](https://bliptext.com/articles/nathan-connolly) sprained his ankle and foot, but sat through shows until the injury healed.\nThe band visited countries like New Zealand and Mexico for the first time and played their first concert in [Southeast Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeast-asia) during the course of the tour.\nThe Eyes Open Tour also introduced the Tour Reporter feature, where fans were given the chance of covering their local concert.\nSnow Patrol finished the tour, which went on for a year and a half, in September 2007 in Australia.\nThe full tour spanned 214 dates and had 37 cancellations.\n\n# Tickets\n\n## Secret gigs and charity shows\nSnow Patrol's official website initially offered tickets for the secret gig SG#3 to registered members on the forum.\nIt was later announced that a limited number of tickets would be made available at [Virgin Megastores](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgin-megastores), Royal Avenue, [Belfast](https://bliptext.com/articles/belfast), [Northern Ireland](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-ireland) on 4 February 2006 at 9am.\nTickets for SG#4 were only available to members of Snow Patrol's official website through an e-mail which contained all details.\nWinners received a non-transferable [SMS](https://bliptext.com/articles/sms) ticket to their mobile phones.\nThis SMS message was deemed invalid if forwarded.\nAdditionally, these mobile tickets were the only way into the concert.\nTickets for Nottingham's [Rock City](https://bliptext.com/articles/rock-city-venue) went on general sale via the [Rock City](https://bliptext.com/articles/rock-city-venue) Box Office on 5 May 2006.\nTickets were priced at £22.50 each.\nThe official website ran a pre-sale for members.\nDuring the North American Tour of February–April 2007, the band played an intimate show for friend Diana Gualda.\nTickets for this show went on general sale on 8 February 1pm ([PST](https://bliptext.com/articles/pacific-time-zone)) via [Ticketmaster](https://bliptext.com/articles/ticketmaster).\nTickets were priced at $30.\nTickets for the show at [Live Earth](https://bliptext.com/articles/live-earth) were not available for general sale.\nFans were required to register within a three-day period, starting 13 April 2007 at 12:00pm.\nThe winners were chosen through a ballot, and they received an SMS containing details on how to obtain their tickets.\nEach ticket was priced at £55.\nThe official website held back a few tickets for its members, which were given out through a pre-sale.\nTickets for the show at [KOKO](https://bliptext.com/articles/koko-venue) were available for pre-sale from 25 January 2006, 9am from Snow Patrol's official website for 24 hours and were limited to four tickets per person.\nThe pre-sale password was posted on the forum half an hour before the sale.\nAny remaining tickets went on general sale on next morning from Gigsandtours and were priced £17.50.\nLater, the band's official website held a competition to give away the last two tickets.\nAll 1,500 available tickets were sold out in less than ten minutes.\nThere were no tickets for the in-store performance at the Virgin Mega stores, Dublin.\nEntry to the concert required a wristband that could only be obtained from the store at 9am on the day of the gig.\nThey were given out on a first come first served basis.\nThe official website held a last minute competition for members to give away the last 100 wristbands.\nTickets for the one-off O2 concert went on sale 18 May 9am and were priced at £25.\nThey could be obtained from the Xfm Xchange, the Xfm Online Ticket Shop, Ticketmaster and Seetickets.\nFor the secret [O2](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-o2-arena-london) show, the band held back 1,000 tickets from general sale, and gave them away to the website members for free.\nMembers were sent an e-mail containing details on how to win the tickets.\nTickets for the [Heineken Green Energy](https://bliptext.com/articles/heineken-green-energy) Festival went on sale on 10 February 2006 and could be purchased from Ticketmaster.\nThey were priced at €34.50 each.\nTickets for [T on the Fringe](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-edge-festival) went on general sale from 5 May 9am and those for Marlay Park from 12 May at 9am.\nPre-sale of tickets for [Marlay Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/marlay-park) went on till 10 May.\nTickets were priced at €44.50 and could be obtained from Ticketmaster.\nFans, later, were also given the chance to win tickets through a competition where they were required to answer a question.\nA similar competition was also held to give away one ticket for T on the Fringe.\nIt was later announced that more tickets were released, which could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\nTickets for the Eden Sessions were priced at £30 and were made available from Edenbookings.\nFor Get Loaded in the Park, tickets were available through Ticketmaster.\nThere was a special £20 early bird ticket scheme as promotion.\nTickets for BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend were given out free via a draw through Radio 1's website.\nTickets for Tennents ViTal went on general sale on 12 May 9am.\nThey could be obtained online from Vital06.com, by telephone or in person from Virgin and Ticketmaster outlets.\nTickets for the Isle of Man Festival were available only through the Islands Box Office or could be purchased by phone.\nThe tickets were priced at £32.50 each.\nTickets for the Splendour in the Grass side-shows were available from Ticketek and Ticketmaster.\nTickets for the Isle of Wight festival on 21 February 2006 via VirginRadio, and tickets were made available from usual ticket outlets like Ticketmaster 22 February 9am.\nTickets for T in the Park went on sale on 24 February 9am.\nThey could be purchased through Ticketmaster.\nSnow Patrol's official website held a competition to give away two tickets for T in the Park.\nFans were required to create a video to the soundtrack of [Signal Fire](https://bliptext.com/articles/signal-fire-song).\nTickets for the V Festival went on general sale on 1 March 9am.\nThey could be purchased through Ticketmaster.\n\n## UK and Ireland tour, 2006\nTickets for the UK and Ireland tour of 2006 went on general sale on 8 February 9am and were priced at £17.50.\nTickets could be obtained from Seetickets except for the Glasgow show which was through Ticketmaster.\nThe Dublin date went on general sale 10 February, and tickets were priced at €34.50.\nTickets could only be obtained from Ticketmaster.\nA competition was also held, where fans could enter and win tickets.\nThe winners were announced through a draw.\nTickets for the final dates at the Ulster Hall went on sale on 18 February, and were priced between £19.50 and £22.50.\nThey could only be obtained from Ticketmaster.\nAdditional tickets for the shows at The Forum were later released, which could be obtained through Seetickets.\nFor the additional date at the Wembley Arena, the official website members were given the opportunity of a pre-sale.\nTickets were priced at £23.50 (excluding booking fee).\nGeneral sale began on 21 May 9am, and tickets could be obtained through Ticketmaster and Seetickets.\nLater, extra seats for the 2 shows at Wembley were released.\nTickets could be purchased from the venue's box office through phone or online, through Seetickets and Ticketmaster.\nAfter the Wembley date, another date for the Odyssey, Belfast was added.\nTickets for this date went on sale on 22 August 9am via Ticketmaster.\nWhen tickets for the show sold out within three hours, an additional date was announced.\nTickets for this show were made available on 22 August, and could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\n\n## US tour, 2006\nTickets for the seven-date US Tour of 2006 were made available through different online services like Ticketmaster, Ticketalternative, Ticketweb, through tickets for the San Francisco and Boston shows could be purchased on venue.\nGeneral sale of tickets for the US Tour in May began on 8 April.\nPre-sale, exclusively for members had begun a few days back.\nPre-sales for later shows were held over the course of the next few months.\nGeneral sale tickets could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\n\n## European tour, 2006\nTickets for the Vienna, Utrecht and Zurich shows on the European Tour of 2006 went on general sale on 21 July and those for the Copenhagen show, and all the German, shows on 28 July.\nAgain, members on the band's official website were given the opportunity to purchase tickets early via a pre-sale.\n\n## UK & Ireland Winter Arena Tour\nTickets for the UK & Ireland Winter Arena Tour went on pre-sale to website members on 10 May 9am and continued till 12 May 9am.\nTickets were limited to a maximum of 4 per household.\nGeneral sale began as soon as the pre-sale ended.\nFor the additional Wembley date, which was later added, the official website ran a pre-sale where tickets were priced at £23.50 each.\nGeneral sale began on 21 May 9am.\nTickets could be obtained through Ticketmaster and Seetickets.\nFor the added Scottish show, the website ran a pre-sale exclusively for members.\nTickets went on general sale on 14 July 9am.\nThey could be obtained from Ticketmaster and Seetickets.\nThe tickets were priced at £22.50 each.\nFor the show at Bournemouth, the official website ran a pre-sale for members on 14 July 9am.\nThe pre-sale ended as soon as tickets went up for general sale, which began on 17 July 9am.\nTickets could be obtained through Ticketmaster and Seetickets and were priced at £22.50.\nTickets for the Manchester show went on general sale on 20 October 9am.\nTickets could be obtained through Seetickets, and were priced at £23.50 each.\nThe tickets for this show sold out in 38 minutes, so another show was added.\nThe other Manchester show's tickets were made available for general sale on 20 October.\nThey could be obtained through Seetickets and Ticketmaster, and were priced at £24.00 each.\nExtra tickets for select dates were released after the tour had begun, which could only be purchased online.\nFor the show at The Point, tickets went on general sale on 22 August 9am, and could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\n**European Tour, 2007**\nTickets for the European Tour, which saw the band playing in Germany went on sale on 20 November 9am via Kartenhaus.de.\nAn additional Dutch date was later added, and tickets for the show went on general sale on 25 November 9am ([CET](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-european-time)).\nTickets for the show could be obtained from Easyticket.nl.\n# [Ticket for the concert at the Heineken Music Hall on 5 February 2007 | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/SnowpatrolEOtourticket.jpeg]\n\n## Australian tour, February 2007\nTickets for the Australian tour of 2007 went on pre-sale on 21 November and continued for a day.\nGeneral sale began on 23 November and tickets could be obtained through Ticketek and Ticketmaster.\nFor the New Zealand dates, the pre-sale began on 6 December 9am ([NZDT](https://bliptext.com/articles/time-in-new-zealand)).\nGeneral sale began on 8 December and tickets were made available through Ticketmaster.\nTickets for the second North American Tour went on pre-sale for website members.\nGeneral sale began on 17 and 18 November, depending on the concert dates.\nAdditional tickets for the Melbourne date were later released on 17 January 2007 at 9am.\nMore tickets were released on 19 January at 9am.\nTickets could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\n\n## North American tour, February–April 2007\nTickets for the tour went on general sale on 17 and 18 November 2006.\nSnow Patrol's official website members were given a pre-sale opportunity.\nA show in Chicago was announced later, and tickets for this show went on general sale on 2 December 12 pm ([CST](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-time-zone-americas)), and could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\nA few days before, the official website held a pre-sale for its members.\nShows in Portland, Houston, Denver and Washington, D.C. were later added.\nTickets for the Portland, Denver and Washington shows went on general sale on 9 December 10 am and those for Houston on 8 December 5pm.\nThree dates for Seattle, Universal City and San Francisco were later added.\nTickets for these shows went on pre-sale for the official website members.\nGeneral sale began on 16 and 17 December.\nTickets could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\n\n## Japanese tour, April 2007\nTickets for the Japanese tour went on pre-sale exclusively for members of the band's official website on 1 September and continued till 4 September.\nGeneral sale of tickets started on 16 September, which could be obtained from Eplus.jp.\nAfter the shows were rescheduled, tickets for the new dates went on general sale 23 December.\nTickets for the original shows were deemed valid for each revised date, and an option of a refund was offered.\n\n## North American tour, July–August 2007\nThis leg of the tour saw the band play in Mexico for the first time.\nTickets for this show went on sale on 28 January, were priced at 350 pesos, and could be obtained through Ticketmaster.\n\n## Australian tour, September 2007\nThe final leg of the tour was in Australia and New Zealand.\nTickets for the Australian dates went on sale on 15 June via Ticketek.\nA pre-sale was held before the said date for website members.\nTo add to it, the band offered a copy of [Final Straw](https://bliptext.com/articles/final-straw) for every purchased ticket.\nTickets for the New Zealand shows 18 July via Ticketek and Ticketmaster.\nMembers again were given the chance of getting tickets early via a pre-sale.\n\n# Secret gigs\nTo generate buzz about the then upcoming album, Snow Patrol played a secret gig in Belfast in mid-February.\nThe show was dubbed SG#3.\nLater, Snow Patrol's official website announced another secret gig, dubbed SG#4, in conjunction with [Vodafone](https://bliptext.com/articles/vodafone) as part of their \"To Be Announced\" feature.\nIt was held at the Royal Opera House in London on 26 April 2:30pm.\nSnow Patrol debuted three new songs for the 200-strong crowd: \"[Hands Open](https://bliptext.com/articles/hands-open)\", \"[Chasing Cars](https://bliptext.com/articles/chasing-cars)\" and \"Make This Go on Forever\".\nThe concert was later shown on [E4](https://bliptext.com/articles/e4-channel) the same weekend and [Channel 4](https://bliptext.com/articles/channel-4) on 5 May 11pm.\n \"Open Your Eyes\"\n \"Tiny Little Fractures\" \n\n# European Tour (Leg I)\nAfter the secret gigs and the KOKO show, Snow Patrol kicked off touring for Eyes Open by undertaking a small European tour.\nThe tour included an acoustic show by Lightbody and Connolly for Dutch channel [3VOOR12](https://bliptext.com/articles/3voor12).\n# [Nathan Connolly and Gary Lightbody in session for 3VOOR12 on 8 March 2006. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Nathan///Connolly///%26///Gary///Lightbody///at///3VOOR12///session.jpg]\n\n# US Tour (Leg I)\nAfter the European Tour winded, the band headed to the United States to play a further 7 dates.\nOne of these dates was at the SXSW Festival.\nThough the tour was called US Tour, it included a lone date in Canada.\nDuring the tour, the band played an intimate session for [AOL Music](https://bliptext.com/articles/aol) in [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan).\nThis performance was later released as a live [EP](https://bliptext.com/articles/extended-play) on the [iTunes Store](https://bliptext.com/articles/itunes-store) as [sessions@AOL](https://bliptext.com/articles/sessions-aol-snow-patrol-ep).\n\n# UK & Ireland Tour\nSnow Patrol undertook a short UK & Ireland Tour to coincide with the release of Eyes Open on 1 May.\nThe tour began at Dublin Castle (at the Heineken Green Energy Festival) and was to finish with two nights at The Forum, London.\nBut due to tickets selling out quickly and the success of SG#3, an additional date was added at the Ulster Hall.\nLater, support acts were confirmed.\nA news item on the official website said that the band intended to include different acts on different dates.\n\n# US Tour (Leg II)\nSnow Patrol next did a month-long tour of US and Canada, following a hugely successful SXSW appearance and a sold out US Tour in March.\n[The Duke Spirit](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-duke-spirit) and [Augustana](https://bliptext.com/articles/augustana-band) were booked as support acts.\nThe tour included an in-store performance at [HMV](https://bliptext.com/articles/hmv-group) to kick off the Canadian dates.\nAn autograph session was held after the set.\nThe band chose [Denver](https://bliptext.com/articles/denver) specifically to be the location of the first concert.\nThey had kept the city as a surprise location on a previous tour two years before and had visited there for the first time, expect lukewarm reaction.\nHowever, the concert sold out and the band had made it a point to return in the future.\nA few shows were initially cancelled as vocalist [Gary Lightbody](https://bliptext.com/articles/gary-lightbody)'s voice had worn out.\nHe was advised by his doctor to take a week's rest before the tour as he had developed [laryngitis](https://bliptext.com/articles/laryngitis) (polyps on vocal cords), but he preferred not to because of the pre-booked tour.\nTests later showed that Lightbody's voice had not healed at all, he had lost his top range, and the band was forced to cancel all remaining shows.\nThe cancelled shows were rescheduled to the end of the tour.\nLightbody credited the band's agent and managers for their quick work.\nHowever, the first two rescheduled shows had to be cancelled as part of the band couldn't get flight tickets to the US due to flight delays caused by the [Heathrow Terrorist Plot](https://bliptext.com/articles/2006-transatlantic-aircraft-plot).\nConnolly and Simpson made it to the US, but the rest of the band couldn't. Later, a whole new set of dates was announced with two additional radio shows.\nAfter getting his voice back, Lightbody gave up drinking on tour in order to preserve his voice, on advice on his doctor (who also works with pop singer [Celine Dion](https://bliptext.com/articles/celine-dion)).\nAlthough he felt ashamed of it before, he hired a vocal coach after finding that [Johnny Rotten](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-lydon) had one when he was a [Sex Pistol](https://bliptext.com/articles/sex-pistols).\nHe also started to do vocal warm-ups before shows, and requested a separate area for him to do his exercises, away from \"the band laughing at [him].\"\nAugustana returned as the support act for all rescheduled shows, and [Martha Wainwright](https://bliptext.com/articles/martha-wainwright), who had previously worked with the band for the song \"[Set the Fire to the Third Bar](https://bliptext.com/articles/set-the-fire-to-the-third-bar)\", supported the band on a select few dates.\nOn 29 August, the band appeared as musical guests on [The Tonight Show](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-tonight-show).\nThe band performed \"[Chasing Cars](https://bliptext.com/articles/chasing-cars)\", which was #6 on the [singles chart](https://bliptext.com/articles/billboard-hot-100) in the United States then.\n\n# European Tour (Leg II)\nIn October, Snow Patrol embarked on a second European Tour.\nThe tour saw them visit countries like Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and France.\nArtists like The Cinematics, Declan O'Rourke, Asyl and Joseph D'Anvers supported the band throughout the tour on different dates.\nMidway through the tour, bassist [Paul Wilson](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-wilson-musician) injured his left arm and shoulder.\nHe was having a little muscle strain, but he ignored the pain and carried on playing.\nIt then built up and became too much for him to play on-stage.\nAs a result, four French and two German shows were cancelled.\n# [Snow Patrol at the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg on 11 October 2006. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Snow///Patrol///Band.jpg]\n\n# UK & Ireland Winter Arena Tour\nSnow Patrol embarked on a tour of the UK & Ireland in winter 2006, which they headlined.\nThey were supported on by a number of support acts.\nThe tour kicked off in late November and continued till the end of December.\nThe tour included shows at the historic [Point Theatre](https://bliptext.com/articles/point-theatre) in Dublin.\nThe tour was played in two legs.\nMidway thorough the tour, the band headed to the US to play some radio shows.\nMartha Wainwright was replaced as female lead vocalist for \"Set the Fire to the Third Bar\" because of her commitments in the studio.\n[Lisa Hannigan](https://bliptext.com/articles/lisa-hannigan), who had previously worked with Gary Lightbody on the song \"[Some Surprise](https://bliptext.com/articles/some-surprise)\" for the charity album [The Cake Sale](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-cake-sale-album), and Miriam Kaufmann, longtime friend of the band joined the band on tour as touring members, singing female vocals on the song for one half of the tour each.\n[Iain Archer](https://bliptext.com/articles/iain-archer) and [Declan O'Rourke](https://bliptext.com/articles/declan-o-rourke) were recruited to play acoustic guitar, with Lightbody praising them as two of the best guitar players and two of the most favorite people the band had ever met.\nBen Dumville and Colm MacAthlaoich played trumpet on \"[An Olive Grove Facing the Sea](https://bliptext.com/articles/an-olive-grove-facing-the-sea)\", as they'd always done.\nThe tour saw the band play a 21-song set, which included the band's first release \"[Starfighter Pilot](https://bliptext.com/articles/starfighter-pilot-song)\".\n \"The Finish Line\"\n \"Open Your Eyes\"\n \"Tiny Little Fractures\" \n# [Gary Lightbody at the SECC on 16 December 2006. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Gary///Lightbody.jpg]\n\n# US Christmas radio shows\nIn the middle of the Winter Arena Tour, Snow Patrol headed to the United States to play a few radio shows.\nThey resumed the second leg of the Winter Arena Tour after finishing playing on these shows.\n\n# European Tour (Leg III)\nSnow Patrol kicked off touring for 2007 by doing a short, four date tour of Germany.\nAn additional date in Amsterdam was added later.\nAhead of the tour, drummer [Jonny Quinn](https://bliptext.com/articles/jonny-quinn) broke his arm in a [snowboarding](https://bliptext.com/articles/snowboarding) accident in the [French Alps](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-alps).\nThe band had to cancel several of their shows before on the tour when bassist Paul Wilson injured his arm and shoulder and when vocalist Gary Lightbody developed laryngitis and lost his voice.\nNot wanting to cancel shows, the band recruited longtime friend [Graham Hopkins](https://bliptext.com/articles/graham-hopkins) to replace Quinn.\nHopkins got one rehearsal to learn his drum parts before the tour dates began.\nQuinn was expected to return for the Australian Tour, but however, his injuries healed in time for the North American tour which started late February 2007.\n\n# Australian Tour (Leg I)\nSnow Patrol played a short, three-date tour of Australia in mid-February.\nThey were supported by Australian bands [Howling Bells](https://bliptext.com/articles/howling-bells) and [Red Riders](https://bliptext.com/articles/red-riders).\nThe shows were Snow Patrol's largest Australian shows then.\nTo celebrate the album reaching #1 in New Zealand, the band added a date for New Zealand on the tour.\nThis show became their first ever in the country.\nHopkins continued to drum on this tour for the still injured Quinn.\n\n# North American Tour (Leg I)\nAfter the Australian tour, Snow Patrol headlined a North American Tour.\nSupport acts for all shows were [OK Go](https://bliptext.com/articles/ok-go) and [Silversun Pickups](https://bliptext.com/articles/silversun-pickups).\nThe tour schedule had them covering various cities in the United States, playing a few dates in Canada and playing their first ever show in [Mexico](https://bliptext.com/articles/mexico).\nThe Mexican show, though had to be cancelled as the band was unaware of the 48-hour wait to get their equipment through customs.\nThe show was rescheduled to 26 July.\nQuinn returned to resume drumming duties on this tour.\nMidway through the tour however, lead guitarist [Nathan Connolly](https://bliptext.com/articles/nathan-connolly) badly sprained his foot and ankle.\nThough it was not possible for him to put any weight on his foot, the management assured fans that no shows would be cancelled and Connolly would most likely be sitting in the shows.\nThe tour began in February end and continued till mid-April, after which the band headed to Japan to play shows that had been rescheduled from February.\n \"The Finish Line\"\n \"Open Your Eyes\"\n \"Hands Open\" \n\n# Japanese Tour\nAfter playing successfully at the Fuji Rock Festival in the summer, the band returned to Japan in 2007 to play a short four date tour.\nThe shows, scheduled to be held in February were cancelled and rescheduled to April.\nTickets for the previous shows were deemed valid for the new dates.\n\n# North American Tour (Leg II)\nAfter spending the summer playing at various rock festivals, Snow Patrol headlined another North American Tour.\n[Hot Hot Heat](https://bliptext.com/articles/hot-hot-heat) acted as the support on all dates of the tour.\nThe tour saw the band visit various venues in US and Canada.\nThe tour also included a lone date in Mexico City, which was the earlier show on the previous North American Tour that had to be cancelled.\nIn between the tour, the band also played at the [Lollapalooza Festival](https://bliptext.com/articles/lollapalooza).\nIt was later announced that the band was forced to cancel the last two shows.\nA refund was offered to the fans who bought tickets.\nThe tour began in mid-July and continued till early August.\n\n# One-off shows\nOn [Zane Lowe](https://bliptext.com/articles/zane-lowe)'s radio show aired on 24 January 2006, it was announced that Snow Patrol were to play a one-off show at KOKO on 12 April.\nThe band was supported by [The Spinto Band](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-spinto-band) & [Desert Hearts](https://bliptext.com/articles/desert-hearts-band), which would go on to again support Snow Patrol on their UK & Ireland Tour.\nLater, a day before kicking off their UK & Ireland Tour of May 2006, the band played a lone date at the Virgin Megastores in [Dundrum](https://bliptext.com/articles/dundrum-dublin).\nWhile playing at various music festivals in July 2006, the band played a one-off show in Leeds.\nThey were supported by [Ed Harcourt](https://bliptext.com/articles/ed-harcourt) on the show.\nIn August 2006, while playing at various rock festivals around Europe, the band played a lone show at Douglas, Isle of Man.\n[Republic of Loose](https://bliptext.com/articles/republic-of-loose) supported them at the concert.\nIn September 2006, they played an acoustic show for [Virgin Radio](https://bliptext.com/articles/virgin-radio) listeners.\nBefore the show, the band signed an [Epiphone](https://bliptext.com/articles/epiphone) SG Special guitar, which was given away on [Ben Jones](https://bliptext.com/articles/ben-jones-dj)' Most Wanted show two days later, when the concert was broadcast.\nSnow Patrol played at [National Public Radio](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-public-radio)'s [World Cafe](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-cafe-radio-program) in February 2007, a session that could be heard on nearly 200 stations around the world.\nThe band played for the Philadelphia station [WXPN](https://bliptext.com/articles/wxpn).\nThe set was rebroadcast on 3 and 5 March 2007.\nIn June 2007, the band played two one-off shows, one at London's O2 Arena, and another at King Tut's. The show at King Tut's was free and sponsored by [Xfm](https://bliptext.com/articles/xfm).\nAt the London show, the band was supported by [Ash](https://bliptext.com/articles/ash-band) and [The Twilight Sad](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-twilight-sad).\nThis was the last UK headline show Snow Patrol played in 2007.\nIt was later announced that there would a secret show at the O2 on the 27th, the night before the known date.\nThe show was specially [O2](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-o2-arena-london), to thank the workers involved in the redevelopment of the arena and the local community.\nSnow Patrol returned to [Bangor](https://bliptext.com/articles/bangor-county-down), hometown to founding members Lightbody and Quinn in September.\nThey organized a mini festival, which featured various support acts – Ash, [The Dead 60s](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-dead-60s), [Simple Kid](https://bliptext.com/articles/simple-kid), Kowalski and [We Are Scientists](https://bliptext.com/articles/we-are-scientists).\n\n# Festivals\nSnow Patrol made appearances at various music festivals throughout the tour for Eyes Open.\nKeyboardist [Tom Simpson](https://bliptext.com/articles/tom-simpson-musician) was arrested on 7 July 2007, which put the band's headlining set the next day (at T in the Park) in jeopardy.\nHe was held at London's [Heathrow Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/london-heathrow-airport) on the suspicion of possessing Class A drugs, mere hours after the band played at [Live Earth](https://bliptext.com/articles/live-earth), which made him miss the [Oxegen Festival](https://bliptext.com/articles/oxegen-2007) performance that night.\nThe band had started searching for a replacement for Simpson, who however was released in time to play at T in the Park.\nThe appearance at Bangkok's 100 Rock Festival marked the first time the band played in [Southeast Asia](https://bliptext.com/articles/southeast-asia).\nAt Lollapalooza, the band was joined by Silversun Pickups' bassist Nikki Monninger to sing Martha Wainwright's vocal parts on \"Set the Fire to the Third Bar\".\n\n## Side shows\nSnow Patrol played a special surprise acoustic set a day before their headlining set at SXSW 2006.\nAfter the band's performance at Splendour in the Grass, the band played two side-shows in Australia before heading to South Korea for the Pentaport Rock Festival.\n[Starky](https://bliptext.com/articles/starky) supported them on both dates, apart from the concert at the Splendour in the Grass festival.\n\n# Charity events\nSnow Patrol played an intimate charity show at Rock City on 16 July.\nThe show was organized in aid of Cancerbackup, who provide information and support for cancer sufferers and their families.\nAll proceeds from the show went to Cancerbackup.\nThe band played a special, intimate acoustic show on 3 March in aid of friend, photographer Diana Gualda, who suffers from [multiple sclerosis](https://bliptext.com/articles/multiple-sclerosis).\nThe band also played at Live Earth, an annual event developed to [combat climate change](https://bliptext.com/articles/climate-change-mitigation).\nKeyboardist Tom Simpson was arrested a few hours after playing at the event.\n\n# Australian Tour (Leg II) and end of tour\nSnow Patrol returned to Australia in September, to headline their biggest tour down under at the time.\nSupport for the tour came from Silversun Pickups, who had previously supported the band on their North American Tour, and [Iain Archer](https://bliptext.com/articles/iain-archer), past touring member and songwriting collaborator.\nTwo dates in New Zealand were announced later.\nThis marked only the second time the band had toured there.\nSupport for the dates came from Iain Archer and [Opshop](https://bliptext.com/articles/opshop) on one date.\nThis leg of the Australian Tour marked the end of the touring for Eyes Open.\nThe tour officially ended on 22 September 2007.\nTo mark the event, Gary Lightbody posted a blog on Snow Patrol's official website about his experience in Australia and discussed the band's future plans.\n \"The Finish Line\"\n \"Open Your Eyes\"\n \"You're All I Have\" \n\n# Tour Reporter\nThe Eyes Open Tour was the first Snow Patrol tour to feature tour reporters.\nIt was first introduced ahead of the North American Tour of 2006.\nFans interested in becoming tour reporters were required to fill in their details and tell why they were the ones for the job.\nOne winner was chosen from each town where the band was to play a show.\nEach tour reporter received two tickets and a photo pass for the respective show.\nThey were required to send the band photos of the show and write a blog sharing their experience.\nThe photos and blogs were then posted on Snow Patrol's official website.\nThe idea was a success, so the same concept was again introduced for the next leg of the tour, which saw the band play in Europe.\nThe next leg, the UK & Ireland Winter Arena Tour also featured fan tour reporters.\nThis time, two fans were chosen as winners for each show to be the official Snow Patrol Tour Reporters.\nSnow Patrol took the tour reporter feature \"to the next level\" for the Australian, New Zealand, Japanese and North American tours of February–April 2007.\nThis time, two fans are chosen as winners for each date specifically to handle the job of reporter and photographer.\nThe method of applying for the job was the same as before.\nThis feature was dubbed as \"Tour Reporter Pro\", and it saw Diana Gualda cover her own benefit show.\nAs the time came for Snow Patrol to play at the Isle of Wight Festival, a new feature of the tour reporter, dubbed \"Tour Reporter Lite\" was introduced.\nThis enabled anybody who was to see the band perform at the festival to share their experience and photos from the event with everyone.\nFans were required to log in the member's area and post in the tour reporters section.","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}

History