Snow Patrol star recalls playing Muppets theme tune to 50 people at Kirkcaldy fete

The Courier

14-05-2025

Snow Patrol lead singer Gary Lightbody has recalled playing the Muppets theme tune to just 50 people in Kirkcaldy.
The 48-year-old says his performance at a fete in the Fife town was 'one of the most hilarious and tragic events I've ever had'.
Speaking to comedian Shane Todd on his Tea With Me podcast, the Northern Irishman told of the horror gig in the band's early days.
He said: 'We played this show in Kirkcaldy at a fete in Fife, it was set up for 2,000 people and 50 people showed up.
'We were playing and people were just not digging it.
'Mark, our bass player at the time, broke a bass string so we had to stop the show.
'We had Mick Cooke from Belle and Sebastian playing guitar… Mick had this trumpet so he started playing the theme song from the Muppets.
'This sent the crowd wild; everybody was up, they were dancing and singing along.'
Lightbody said once the bass string was fixed he told the crowd they were going to play another song.
This was met with a chorus of boos.
A short time later, on the advice of Mick Brennan, their sound engineer at the time, the band called it quits.
However, things went from bad to worse for Snow Patrol.
On leaving the venue, Lighbody realised he hadn't closed the back of their van properly and all the band's equipment had fallen out.
He added: 'There were people grabbing our guitars and running off into hedges; [but] nobody touched the merch!
'It's burned into my memory as one of the most hilarious and tragic events that I've ever had.'
When two members quit the band in 2023, Lightbody recalled a near-death experience in Perth.
Snow Patrol began when Lightbody linked up with Michael Morrison and Mark McClelland while attending the University of Dundee in 1994.
During the singer-songwriter's time in Tayside, he also met their future keyboardist Tom Simpson, who is from Monifieth and quit the band in 2013.
Speaking five years later on a visit to the City of Discovery, Lightbody said: 'I love Dundee, Dundee gave us a lot.'