In 2003, Snow Patrol played in run-down pubs in areas of Manchester where visitors arrive with a police escort. Fourteen months on, they are the guitar success of 2004. Franz Ferdinand may have gained more column inches, but even they couldn't match the multi-platinum success of Snow Patrol's Final Straw album, boosted by the epic single Run, which struck chords with millions who ever dreamt of parting from a lover to the sound of a big chorus.

The band's meteoric rise has left the unassuming but dry Celtic types with a refreshing sense of the ridiculous. At one time their light show consisted of a 40-watt bulb above the bar; now, they come on to a Close Encounters of the Third Kind backdrop and Spinal Tap-type sci-fi lighting that must have given them hours of chortling at the expense of critics who have called them anonymous or grey.

Snow Patrol have been to the US, but appear to be shunning the career path of bands who return across the Atlantic with bigger riffs and cowboy hats. "It's so nice to be back in a civilised society," says frontman Gary Lightbody. He receives ironic cheers for mentioning albums with slightly more experimental edges that were "bought by five people".

Some of Final Straw's songs are suffering from tour fatigue, but the unanswered question is whether the band will have another song like Run. The terrifically tense Ways and Means - which could almost be a rock song penned by Philip Glass - comes close. But Run sees instant pandemonium as the entire crowd sing the chorus. More songs like that and Snow Patrol could probably trouble U2. Even if its creators end up playing back in pubs, the guitar song of the year is likely to stick around for a while.

· At Barrowland, Glasgow, tomorrow to Tuesday. Box office: 0141-552 4601. Then touring.