Tuesday night offered the rare opportunity to see this year’s Reading and Leeds headliners play a venue they outgrew over a decade ago. As much of a treat as it was for fans, it was clear Biffy Clyro were having a ball reacquainting themselves with the more intimate spaces of the O2 Forum Kentish Town too, having swapped their original UK arena tour for a run of mid-sized venues post-COVID.
“It’s f***ing magic to see you again,” singer Simon Neil exclaimed at one point, while bassist James Johnston was regularly seen gazing up at the balcony, visibly amazed to be seeing the whites of the audience’s eyes again after all these years. Happily, the Kilmarnock-formed rockers made no concessions for their more humble surroundings, delivering a stadium-ready set on what was presumably a fraction of the budget.
Of course, the sheer volume of songs at their disposal gave the trio - plus their two touring members - a giant head start on that score. Now up to nine studio albums with the release of October’s The Myth of the Happily Ever After, plus more than 40 singles, it’s the kind of catalogue you could throw a dart at, blindfold, and happen upon a radio smash. The sequencing of last night’s setlist was a little more considered than that, but no less heavy on the hits.
All the mega singles from their 2009 breakthrough LP Only Revolutions got an airing, leading to venue-wide singalongs of Mountains, Bubbles and Many of Horror (famously covered by 2010 X Factor-winner Matt Cardle, under the more family-friendly title When We Collide.) It was particularly difficult not to get swept along in the sweeping emotion of the latter, and Neil never shied away from showing his softer side, sharing tender solo renditions of Machines and Re-arrange.
Happily these tender moments proved the exception rather than the rule, and for the rest of the set Neil and co could be found cooking up much meatier arrangements of fan favourites, often packed with abrupt stop-starts and wild dynamics. Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies was particularly powerful, it’s staccato rhythms accentuated by a blitzkrieg-like light show that made the audience flinch.
Just as impressive was the fact that material from their latest LP and its 2020 companion, A Celebration of Endings, seemed to receive as rapturous a reception as classic tracks. Listening to the band burn through the likes of Tiny Indoor Fireworks, Instant History and A Hunger in Your Haunt only underscored their prowess at blending brute force with radio-ready choruses. It’s their ability to maintain this tricky balance that will ensure they make a seamless transition back to playing arenas soon enough.
