At the end of last year, Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars was named most played song of the decade, but a request for it is given short shrift by frontman Gary Lightbody. "Boy, did you waste your money," he scoffs.

Turning away from anthemic indie, Lightbody has tapped into his passion for Americana in his new side project Tired Pony and, combining what was originally two separate shows, this is the band's first-ever gig.

Following the release of debut album The Place We Ran From, expectation is high, but no one is as excited as Lightbody, visibly awestruck at the company he's keeping. REM guitarist Peter Buck glows with elder-statesman charisma, while singer-songwriter Iain Archer crackles with country authenticity. Add Belle & Sebastian drummer Richard Colburn and producer Garret "Jacknife" Lee and it's not surprising Lightbody is a little awed.

Apart from his enthusiasm and an endearing line in self-deprecating humour, what Lightbody brings to Tired Pony is his distinctive voice – and therein lies the problem. Sighing through Northwestern Skies, crooning through That Silver Necklace, Lightbody lacks the gravitas the genre demands. On rocky tracks like Silver Atoms, Tired Pony end up sounding like Snow Patrol with slide guitar.

Buck adds texture with mandolin and banjo, but his guitar rhythms don't quite fit. Instead, it's Lee that sets off shivers, with Archer digging into the rootsy feel on I Am a Landslide, joined by Lee's two young daughters on backing vocals. Smith's girlfriend, Edith Bowman, teams up with actor and Commitments singer Bronagh Gallagher to provide backing vocals on Held in the Arms of Your Words, and there's a real family feel to the night. But Tired Pony isn't the wild west adventure it could be.