Playlist for May 28th

by Gwen McManus — May 29, 2007

Snow Patrol "Chasing Cars" from Eyes Open

Eyes Open, the group's postcard from the edge--lush, beautiful, complex--is perhaps Snow Patrol's greatest album, laced with beautiful, powerful songs underscored by some of the most poignant and telling lyrics in rock. Lead singer Gary Lightbody shines with "Chasing Cars," in which he sings "If I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?" My favorites include "Make This Go On Forever," "Chasing Cars," "You're All I Have," and "Open Your Eyes."

Eyes Open

U2 Cannes Film Festival Concert

"Bonne anniversaire, Cannes!" Bono shouted in honor of the 60th birthday of the legendary festival, staging its debut rock concert. Wearing a khaki Fidel Castro-style cap, purple round sunglasses and, a military jacket, the lead singer and his band blew away thousands of fans with a free live midnight show on the red carpet at the film festival.

Spanish actor Javier Bardem and Maria de Medeiros, who were on the Cannes prize jury, danced with the crowd to a 10-minute set that included the title song from their latest album, "Vertigo," and their 1987 hit "Where the Streets Have No Name."

The band played the unscheduled concert immediately before the premier of the new concert documentary "U2 3D," which documents the band's "Vertigo" tour with advanced 3-D technology.

U2 Cannes Festival

Damien Rice in Concert at Radio City Music Hall

Rice played a diverse set that revealed his showmanship--playful, fully confident, and a little bit quirky. He included the obvious in his extensive repertoire of acoustic ballads, playing "Cannonball," "Delicate," and "Accidental Babies," solo or unplugged. Rice's accompanying members, a cellist, a drummer, a bassist, and a guitarist made his angrier, more angst-driven songs a strong foil to his melancholic love songs. The Village Voice said Rice's "songs are so naked emotionally that even listening is akin to eavesdropping on a bad breakup."

Damien Rice