Music
Biffy Clyro
SSE Hydro, Glasgow
Jonathan Geddes
four stars
LARGE homecoming gigs must be getting familiar for Biffy Clyro. Just three months after headlining Bellahouston Park and the Kilmarnock trio were back in Scotland again, and although their inevitably shirtless frontman Simon Neil mentioned how nervous Glasgow gigs make the group feel, the performance was so assured that it suggested a band more comfortable than ever at rock’s top table.
Plenty of arena rock hallmarks were present and correct. Thus, we got everyone’s arms swaying on excellent new track Friends and Enemies, while Neil and bassist James Johnston joked around about which half of the crowd could sing better and made full use of a multi-platformed stage set-up to leap around. Plenty of songs fitted the setting too, and Biffy crowds now feature a cross between people throwing themselves about with abandon to spiky oldies like 9/15th or Justboy and those who want to sway along to big chugging anthems like Mountains or Many of Horror.
It is to the group’s credit how well they weaved everything into a coherent whole. Material from this year’s Ellipsis album played an important role, being both more robust than on record and also offering real variety, from Howl’s turbo-charged pop to Re-Arrange’s surprisingly calming beat and People’s strum-a-long.
A few of their more straightforward attempts at anthems proved a little too direct for their own good, but the band hitting full stride possessed a thrilling edge, such as on the snaking bassline of Bubbles or a run-through of That Golden Rule that let Ben Johnston absolutely pummel the drums, before Stingin' Belle delivered sheer noise for a finale. Few bands can pull off arena spectacle in such a satisfyingly intense manner.
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