There was a time when you could probably have walked into any small venue in Glasgow on any given night and had a decent chance of seeing Snow Patrol.

That was back when they were a critically-adored but publicly-ignored minor label concern though, so for the little over 1,000 people waiting inside SWG3 this level of intimacy is something of a rarity.

Tonight's performance is actually the band's second of the day, having played an evening set for Assai Records customers.

"I'll try to change up the banter between songs," frontman Gary Lightbody promises. "You'll get a brand new set of bulls***."

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One might question whether Snow Patrol could really work in a venue like this.

Now a three-piece, the band's songs are grand, epic, sweeping and entirely suited to a festival headline set in a way they may not be a former warehouse in Finnieston.

That, it seems, is something that's been considered as they offer a stripped-back set featuring just guitar, bass and keyboard - it's so pared back Lightbody is in his joggies.

They kick off with 'Chocolate' from breakthrough album Final Straw, then straight into their first big hit 'Run' which the singer recalls writing in his flat in Glasgow - the "light up/light up" chorus is inspired by the fact their pre-pay electricity meter ran out during its conception.

As the crowd gently sing along to its final refrain it's hard to believe there could ever be any aggro in such a situation but, Lightbody informs the crowd, there was in the previous set.

The 48-year-old sounds like he himself can't quite believe it as he recounts "two lads scrapping" to the semi-acoustic stylings of Snow Patrol.

Introducing new song 'The Beginning' he concludes: "There's nowhere in this song that it says 'stop fighting' but it's subtext."

It's one of only two newbies from The Forest Is The Path, the other following shortly after in the form of 'All'.

The biggest singalong of the night comes, naturally, for 'Chasing Cars'.

The band's biggest hit, in 2019 figures revealed it was the most played song on British radio so far in the 21st century.

'Open Your Eyes' and 'Just Say Yes' follow before the trio depart with little fanfare after eight songs.

They'll return for a sold out show at the Hydro in February, and as an appetiser they more than do their job in a far smaller room.