21/01/26 - Biffy Clyro @ OVO Hydro, Glasgow

 Tonight's gig saw Biffy back on home turf in their hometown of Glasgow to finish off their UK tour which represents the first outings of tracks from their latest album "Futique" which was out last year. I've seen Biffy on a number of occasions but not for a long time, probably pre 2010 was the last time.  Previously I have seen them at King Tuts, QMU, Barrowlands and Belladrum festival. Fast forward today and they are easily selling out the biggest venue in town, the OVO Hydro arena.  

On support duty today was Soft Play who were previously known as Slaves. I think there may have been a band on before them but we missed them.  But Soft Play are certainly unique and really made you stand up and take notice.  There maybe just a guitarist and a drummer with the drummer taking most of the vocals; but don't be fooled as they make a hell of a racket.  They had good banter as well as they quipped between songs that the reason there was only 2 of them in the band is because nobody else wanted to join.  The songs were short, punky and packed a punch.  I probably wouldn't see them at their own show but appreciated them as a support act.

And they set the scene nicely for main act of the evening Biffy Clyro.  This tour was to be different from any previous tour the band has been on, due to the notable absence of bassist James Johnston.  They are such a tight group you could feel the emotion of the loss as he took some time out from the band to focus on his mental health.  But the show must go on in the say and they brought in Naomi Macleod who has previously played bass in lead singer Simon Neil's other project, Empire State Bastard.  She did a fine job and you wouldn't have known she had such a little time to rehearse.  Simon did dedicate "Friendshipping" to them both.

It was one of those nights where the setlist mainly centred around the new album with 7 tracks played from "Futique". To my surprise no "True Believer" which is a single and also my favourite track from the record but they are right to lean heavily on the record as it is a solid album. The next album they dipped into the most was "Only Revelations", which is perhaps no surprise as it contains their biggest hits to date and they finished on "Many a horror" and to be honest Simon didnt even really need to sing it the crowd well and truly could have carried it.  

They didn't play anything off their first 3 albums which I wasn't particurlarly bothered about as they have so many good songs to choose from but maybe some older fans would want them to sneak in a few classics from back in the day.  But the thing is you never really know what you are going to get from a Biffy setlist from tour to tour, festival to festival. I remember watching their Glastonbury and TRNSMT appearences last year and the appearences were less than a month apart but the set lists were totally different and due to "Futique" coming out since this setlist was different once again.  Really refreshing for a band to do that and for me are rewarding fans who see them regularly.

Overall a top night and Biffy were on fine form.

Setlist

A Little Love

Hunting Season

That Golden Rule

Who's Got a Match?

Shot One

Space

Wolves of Winter

Tiny Indoor Fireworks

Goodbye

Friendshipping

Biblical

A Thousand and One

Different People

A Hunger in Your Haunt

Black Chandelier

Instant History

Mountains

Two People in Love

Machines

The Captain

Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies

Bubbles

Many of Horror

Biffy Clyro - The Myth of the happily ever after

 "The Myth of the Happily ever after" is the ninth studio album by Scottish rock trio Biffy Clyro.  Although I still maintain it's their 10th album as the soundtrack "Balance, not symmetry" was basically a Biffy album.  "Myth of the Happily ever after" comes relatively quickly after releasing their previous album "A celebration of endings" just last year (August 2020).  For me that was an absolute belter of an album and one of their best.  Which is saying something as they have released so many good albums up until this point.  They have always been a band pushing their own sound and trying new things.  On "Celebration of endings" they got more people in and there was strings along with other instruments out with guitar, bass and drums which has been the staple of the rest of their albums up until "Celebration".

Obviously, the main reason why this album was so quick to follow its predecessor was because they couldn't tour the last album due to covid which was a real shame.  So, like many bands they have used that spare time to get back in the studio and record more.  But I have read that another reason it was so quick is that they had a load of extra tracks from the "Celebration of endings" sessions but in addition to this they wrote several new songs for the album.  You can see from the cover art that "Myth" and "Celebration" go hand in hand.  The albums have very similar artwork with the difference being that "Myth" has red as the dominant colour and "Celebration" has blue.  So, it's clear that these albums are meant to go together and for me fit into the same era. Which is something, to my knowledge, Biffy haven't really done before.  

It's kind of a bit like what Taylor Swift did last year with "folklore" and "evermore".  She just kept writing after "folklore" came out and produced quite a similar album in the form of "evermore".  But I think what Biffy have done with "Myth" is something quite different to "Celebration" to an extent which has left me quite confused as to why they didn't use fresh artwork, symbolising a new era for the band.  Yes, the strings and piano appear in places again but not as dominant as they did on "Celebration of Endings".  And yes, they have some great singles on here in the "A hunger in your Haunt", "Denier " and "Haru Uraua".  But most songs on "Celebration" are 4-minute tracks or their abouts minus the 6-minute epic which is "Cop syrup".  Whereas "Myth" has 2 tracks about 5 1/2 minutes and 2 tracks which are 6 minutes plus.

This changes the dynamic of the album and they have let their ideas really flourish on these tracks.  I was surprised they released one of the 6-minute tracks as the first single off the album, "Unknown male 01".  I think there are better suited singles on the album that should have been released.  This is much more of a album track in my opinion.  It grew on me more once I heard it in the context of the album. "Witch's cup" is not far off 5 minutes either and works so well sitting beside "Holy Water" which are probably my 2 favourite songs off the album at the moment.  

They also have nailed the opening and closing tracks of the album. "DumDum" starts and builds and builds.  While "Slurpy Slurpy Sleep Sleep" has great quiet and then intense moments which combine to a very satisfying climax to the album.  

Overall although I realise this album did come hot off the heals of "Celebration of Endings".  This is a fantastic album and for me the artwork is almost a red herring as this is not "Celebration of endings 2".  I love how they have longer songs on here.  They have a great balance of songs on the album, some rock hard, some more gentle, some songs go in all different directions which keeps you guessing as to what way they will turn next.  To still be this relevant and this big in today's music scene shows a band who have that creative spark and are still going from strength to strength.

Biffy Clyro - A Celebration of Endings

 "A Celebration of Endings" is the eighth studio album by Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro.  Well officially it's there 8th. But it could quite easily be argued its their ninth if you include last years quite brilliant "Balance, Not symmetry" soundtrack which was in effect is another Biffy Clyro album.  They are a band which seems to have snowballed fans over the years with every album release and have now headlined many festivals sometimes to the confusion of other bands like Nine inch Nails. They came on before them at Reading and Leeds festival one year and they claimed they didn't even know who Biffy were so were confused why they were above them in the bill.

But when you think about Biffy and how they got to this level; I really think its because they are unique and if you listen to a song by Biffy you will often instantly recognise it as being them. Whereas others in the rock genre it is not always as clear cut.  And that is what makes Biffy special.  I would say over their career that even though they are getting bigger and bigger, they haven't always hit the jackpot in terms of what I would call a winning album.  One of the reasons for this is because they have a tendency to write more complex songs which don't always come off as good songs.  Often its the simpler songs they write do come off and they are the ones that propelled them into the big time.  For example 27 and 57 in the early days and "Many of Horror".  But what differentiates them is when the complex songs do come off they are special. Look no further than the likes of "Living is a problem because everyone dies" and "Glitter and Trauma". Both technically ambitious songs but pulled off magnificently into classic songs.

But where am I going with this with "Celebration of endings".  Well it feels like they have 11 tracks here which are complex but delivered in a way which is accessible to the listener. Giving it instant appeal.  This is an absolute corker of a record which really stands out amongst their back catalogue.  One of the reasons for this is the introduction of a string section in some of the tracks and also piano in others.  They have expanded their sound and it is amazing to listen to.  They still have the fun, upbeat, jump up and down tracks.  I like "Tiny, indoor fireworks" and opener "North of no South" in particular. Especially in "North of no South" when Simon sings "Can you feel it".  Well Simon, YES WE CAN!"

I think the irony of calling this album the "Celebration of Endings" is because the last track on the album "Cop Syrup" really is a triumph in itself.  Listening to this track on first listen you really would not have guessed where it would end up.  It starts off so heavy and shouty for the first few minutes almost displaying the madness the band have been going through the last few years. Before half way though the track the strings come in for a long outro like finishing in a mountain landscape of peace and tranquillity.   Then the track kicks into gear for a final minute of pure madness.  Such an epic way to finish the album.

Overall Biffy really have done amazingly well on this record.  Replacing Iron Maiden as Download headliners may have surprised some. But listen to this along with the rest of their back catalogue and you'll find they have more than enough ammunition now to deliver the goods at these festivals.

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Biffy Clyro - Balance, Not symmetry

When a band does a soundtrack to a movie and the music is nothing but theirs. Does it count as their n'th album? Would it come under the band's name in record shops or under soundtracks? Well that is the dilema for Biffy Clyro are in as they release the soundtrack for the film "Balance, not symmetry. If it did count as a Biffy album it would be their 8th album. Which I think it should really. This album has been on the cards for a while as they talked about it in interviews. But the actual release of the album felt like it came out of nowhere as the official annocement came on a Thursday with the lead single "Balance, not symmetry". Then the album dropped the very next day.

My first impressions of the first single were not good. Biffy are known to go off on all sorts of tangents with their music, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  Sometimes I feel they overcomplicate their music to such an extent it's difficult to take it in. But when they get it right, they really do get it right. Anyway, the intro to "Balance, not symmetry" did fall into the category of overcomplicating intros and is quite full on, not wasting anytime.  For me the song does develop well into more of a tune as the song goes on but by then I felt that I already had made my mind up. I wasn't going to listen to the rest of the album when it was out the next day.

A week later, without reading anything about the album on social media or in the press. I decided to give it a chance and listened to the album the whole way through. And I have to say I was pleasently surprised. Not only was the single "Balance, not symmetry" including intro growing on me. But I thouroughly enjoyed the whole journey of listening to the rest of the album. For me the tracks remind me of the softer, more anthemic anthems on albums like "Puzzle" and "Opposites". While still exploring their own soundscapes. This is a very listenable and not overly complicated ouput by the 3 piece Scottish outfit.

I think the moments on this album I like the most are the ones which deeply strike a chord. The songs which do this the most are "Different kind of love", "Fever Dream", "Adored" and "Yellow". "Yellow" in particular is a piano led track with no vocals and I would be very surpised if it wasn't in the movie. I haven't seen the movie but I can visualise scenes from the movie in my head with the these tracks playing in the background. These songs are so touching that the movie could potentially bring you to tears if done right. Well the songs have been done right anyway.

I will investigate this further but the fact that this is a soundtrack does lead to more questions. What came first, the movie or the soundtrack? Or did Biffy write the songs as the movie was being made? were the lyrics written at the same time as the script? Will Biffy tour this album? I'm sure Biffy have great answers to all these great questions.

I have mentioned the more poignent moments on the album but there are other sides to the album too. For example "Tunnels and Trees" is a very catchy, perky, upbeat number with a fantastic piano loop which is present throughout the track.  "The Naturals" starts off with Simon singing with an acousitc guitar. But it doesn't take long for this song to explode into life as the drums, electric guitar and bass kicks in.  It's one of my favourite tracks on the album.  "Touch" like "The Naturals" is another wonderful song.   Such great anthems and soaring choruses. This is Biffy at their best.

In saying that I would say although there not really any bad tracks on the album, there are some forgetable tracks that I'm already skipping. So its not the perfect album and I would say the likes of "Puzzle" and "Blackened Sky" are better and more complete albums. But out of all the albums they have done I would probably rank it 3rd best. Which is saying something - that its worth your time and attention.   If the film is anywhere near as good as the soundtrack it will take you on a rollercoaster full of highs and lows. If they get the film right they could be on to a real winner.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Hampden Park 23/8/07

Its one of those gigs you buy the tickets well in advance, and it feels like ages till the actual date comes around.  When it does the excitement is inescapable….well for me anyway.  I managed to get away from work early and get home about quarter past 5. My bro and I got dinner and I really wanted to get out of the flat by 6, to ensure I didn’t miss any of the action.  It got to six and I was hyper as anything, not being able to stand in the same place for any period of time, pacing up and down the flat.  Meanwhile my brother was slouched on the sofa saying “I can’t be bothered going just yet, my legs are sore from football and we’re going to stand for 5 hours anyway” Yawn. Yawn. Yawn. But eventually managed to get him to get up and get this show on the road.  Conveniently Hampden’s only a 20 minute walk from my bit so we got there about 20 past 6.  Just as we were heading down the front the first band came on. During the first song we could not put a finger on who it was until my bro turns round and says “Its Reverend and the Makers!”

Reverend and the Makers

This is the band that my brother so desperately wanted to see at T in the Park but couldn’t due to the tent being packed out.  Oh the irony and oh how I laughed!  Anyway, live the songs such as ‘Heavyweight champion of the World’ and ‘He said he loved me’, sound brilliant live.  All the songs have these thumping base lines which I imagine in a smaller venue would go straight through you.  Complete with 2 keyboard players on top of the bassist, guitarist and drummer, in turn create some magic tunage.  Another thing which made me laugh is when the singer announced one of the song titles as “Why do British holidaymakers go on holiday and act like twats, then come home and slag off immigrants” or something to that effect, anyway its definitely a contender for Longest song name of the year award (assuming he was being serious!).  Anyway, a pleasant surprise to see them playing to say the least and from this performance they certainly deserved the slot.

Biffy Clyro

Having been announced as the main support act, this was probably one of the biggest gigs of Biffy’s career.  It must have been strange for them having so many people seeing them who do not know every word to there songs off by heart like their headline shows.  Although having toured constantly for the last 5 plus years, they’ve had enough practice to ensure a storming set was delivered.  7 of the 10 songs they squeezed in were from there most recent album ‘Puzzle’ showing a band who have put full faith in there new material and quite right to.  ‘Living is a Problem because everyone dies’ went down particularly well as they manage to pull off the complex intro live.

Set list below (Think it’s the right order?!):

Saturday Superhouse

Who’s got a match?

57

Love has a Diameter

Living is a problem because everyone dies

Just boy

Now I’m everyone

Machines

Get Duck stud

Glitter and trauma

Red Hot Chili Peppers

It was a long wait till the Chili’s came on, almost an hour, as there seemed to be a technical glitch.  Who knows whether they were meant to play for longer than an hour and three quarters or not?  But from the time we did have of them, it was business as usual with a few surprises thrown in along the way.  For example the Drum solo by Chad followed by a trumpet solo by Flea at the start of the encore. 

The set was predominantly post Frusciante mental drug era with only ‘Give it away’ played at the end as a token gesture to the hardcore fans that have been with them since the start.  It is funny in a way though, that they do only play one song from roughly the first 15 years of there career, but it just goes to show you the strength, depth and popularity of the last 3 albums.  Having nearly 60 songs to choose from, from their last 3 albums, you wonder what decision process they go through in making the set list at all.  Most artists when playing a tour to promote their album play most of the songs off that album.  But of course being the ‘Stadium Arcadium’ tour, Within a 2 hours slot they would still have songs from the album the didn’t have time to play, never mind delving into their humongous back catalogue.  Out of the 28 songs, they played 7 off ‘Stadium’.  So I doubt there will be no one from that gig who could say “They played every song I wanted to hear”.  Highlights for me in particular were ‘She’s only 18’ and ‘Wet sand’.  Shame ‘Especially in Michegan wasn’t played but as I said before!

But with out I doubt I went home thinking the Chilis are one of the best live acts in the world today.  You don’t just get the songs thrown back at you like they were replicating the record note perfectly.  You get Frusciante playing differently solo’s every time he plays.  You get Frusciante, Chad and Flea going off on wild jams at the end of songs such as ‘Throw away your television’ and the unforgettable 15 minute version of ‘Give it away’.  Its one of these bands I would just go and see again and again and again and again…………..

Set list:

Can’t stop

Dani California

Scar Tissue

Readymade

Throw away your television

Snow

Fru song – unknown

Get on top

Emit Remmus

Wet Sand

So Much I

Shes only 18

Right on Time

Californication

By The Way

Encore:

Drum solo followed by trumpet solo

C’mon Girl

Give it Away

Belladrum Tarten Heart Festival 2007

This is quite long so for those of you with short attention spans like me here is a short version of events….

Had an absolute blast, highlight from Saturday was Biffy Clyro and highlight from Sunday was Drive-by Argument.  Campsite/arena were brilliant, nice and spaced out, not too busy and not too quiet, so you could dance about at will.

Anyway for those of you who have slightly longer attention spans than me, here is a full rundown of my first Belladrum Tartan heart festival experience!

Friday:

Due to my brother being on a course till 4pm, we didn’t arrive at the festival till 9pm. Gutted to have missed Guillemots who were on just before we arrived, but unless we could travel at the speed of light it just wasn’t going to happen.  They are long overdue a UK tour anyway so I should catch them soon.  Anyway having got there, we quickly set up our tent and helped some other guys set up theirs and headed straight for Biffy…….

Biffy Clyro – Hothouse Stage

These guys were due on at 8.35pm, so when we got to the tent at 9.15pm we were expecting to catch about 15 mins of them.  However due to the whole planes being cancelled, some of the bands had to cancel, so Biffy ended up playing till half 10!  Almost a 2 hour set at a festival must have been like Christmas come early for many of the hardcore biffy contingent present in the crowd today.  This crowd were also in the know that this was probably the only Biffy live appearance this year.  Having seen the band it was also clear that they have been locked up for a while as they look even more hobo’ish than before! ;-)

The set itself was almost like a greatest hits set and some new material too.  I hadn’t seen these guys since there debut album.  Three albums later its clear they are now a solid live band and have got a good variety of tunes to back it up.  Personnel highlight for me was Justboy and 57 as these songs still sound amazing as they did when they first came out.  At the end of the set, lead singer caused a min riot as he threw his guitar into the crowd, which one lucky punter took home. I wonder how much that’ll go for on ebay………..?!

Echo and the Bunnymen – Garden Stage

Due to the Biffy set being extended, I only managed to catch half an hour of E and B. My first impression was that I really did not miss much at all.  When we got there the lead singers moaning was clearly in full swing and that didn’t stop till they left the stage.  They were very average and the crowd really were not getting into it at all which was understandable considering the bands been around for over 10 years you would thought they have some professionalism by now, but oh no, how wrong I was!  Maybe I just caught these guys on an off day, but I certainly have no intention of finding them on a good one.

Saturday

Had a look at the line-up for starter and decided just to wander into a random tent…….

Feis rois -  Grass Roots stage

So the first band we randomly went to see was Feis rois who played to a packed out tent which was impressive for a midday slot.  Complete with accordions, violins, keyboards, clarinets and acoustic guitars combined to make some thoroughly enjoyable folk music which led to louder jeers and applause than any received in the Echo and the Bunnymen set the night before.  Overall a great start…

Stereoglo – Hothouse stage

After hearing a lot of people around the campsite go on about Stereoglo the night before, I thought I’d check them out to see what all the fuss is about.  What I got was clearly an Oasis/Charlatans influenced band hailing from the Isle of Skye.  Don’t get me wrong I really enjoyed their set and they have some really good tunes. But you get the feeling the only reason they’re popular is because they play places the likes of the Charlatans and Oasis don’t.  Fair play to them and I wish them all the best; but a bit too similar for me.

Between 2 and half 5 nothing really caught the eye so went to the Invverness vs Hibs game.

Morning Runner – Hothouse stage

Just got back from the football in time to catch the majority of Morning Runner’s set, which was good.  Had the choice between them and the Automatic who were playing the Garden stage.  Quite clearly most people opted for the latter but I preferred Morning runner because there a much better live band.  From what I’ve seen of the Automatic live on the telly they were rubbish.  I also get the feeling that they are heading for the one hit wonder category.

Drive-by Argument – Seedlings Stage

Found out about these guys through My space months ago, so it was good to finally see them live.  There electro/rock set was fully of energy and catchy tunes which some of the crowd were already familiar with.  The crowd really got into it and the band responded with their utmost appreciation.  With one of there songs already being used as the lead out song for an NHL team, these guys are destined for bigger and better things.

Bellowhead – Garden Stage

Having looked at the descriptions of the bands in the paper Bellowhead immediately caught my eye being an 11 piece folk act.  Then I found to my surprise (and everyone else’s) when they came on to the stage there was only 2 of them!  First thing they said was “ the rest of the band are currently making there way from the train station right now!” Instead of waiting for them the 2 of them got on with it. 10 minutes later 2 more appeared.  15 minutes after that, 2 cars went by the side of the stage and 6 of them ran out onto the stage to be re-united with there instruments.  The circumstances ended up adding to what was a very entertaining set and band I would like to hear a lot more of.

Embrace – Garden Stage

Now for the weekends finale; Embrace took to the stage and stormed through all of there hits.  A notable absence was England’s world cup song “the world at your feet”.  A wise move and showed that Embrace actually value their lives ;-).   The rest of the set included songs such as Ashes, All you good good people and Save me.  However from what I heard, they really didn’t convince me at all.  The lead singer comes across very poor live, both as a showman and singer.  Its clear that he spends a lot of time trying to get the vocals right for the album because live, he seems to struggle a lot to reach notes or even sing at the right time at some points.  It was still enjoyable to sing along to all the songs,  but this will probably be the last festival they headline, judging by today’s efforts. 

Biffy Clyro - Puzzle

Many bands these days seem to get hyped up on there first album, only to get slaughtered by the press on their second and then forgotten about by their third effort. Biffy on the other hand, have gradually floated to the surface, building up a hardcore contingent of fans along the way. `Puzzle' looks set to propel the band into the mainstream. The band hold some heavy weight respect having provided support for Muse at Wembley Stadium and are due to perform the same role for the Chilli Peppers at Hampden Stadium in August. A concert which I really am looking forward to! 

Anyway, Puzzle is the 4th album to come from Biffy's locker. I came across them due to my brother being obsessed with them from day one. I really liked Blackened Sky and went to see them a number of times. When `Question and Answers' and `Infinity Land' came along I didn't appreciate them at the time because I felt they were just trying to over-complicate things for the sake of it. Over the last year though, I have listened to these albums more and now find them refreshingly different from what was out at the time. This made me wait for Puzzle with great anticipation...

With Puzzle it is like they have completed the full circle from when they began, and then stepped it up a gear. To break this down; with their first album it was the accessible indie/rock songs such as `27', `57' with some signs of prog in `Convex concave', which showed hints of their potential early on. The second album saw them exploring their guitar sounds and song structures more. While the 3rd album expanded their array of experimentation even more, through vocal harmonies, etc. Puzzles' roots clearly are from their first album, as they just wanted to go back to basics and make an album for the fun of blasting out a mixture of all out rock with acoustic masterpieces. Although the intro to `Living is a problem because everyone dies', along with numerous other points in the album, shows that they have taken bits from the two previous albums to put the `we haven't forgotten the progress we've made on the last two albums' stamp on some of the songs. 

This is one of those albums you'll either love or hate, leaving no middle ground. If you do love it, it will make every other record in your collection seem inferior for a month or 6. `Puzzle' can be split into 3 large pieces; Rock, acoustic and rock ballady indie epic type songs. The main rockers are the singles; `Semi-mental' and `Saturday Superhouse', both are all out, brilliant sing along tunes. The title `Semi-mental' does not do the song justice as it is `FULLY MENTAL!'. The acoustic songs end the album with `Machines' and `drop it'. Listening to the lyrics in `Machines' its one of those ones that everyone can relate to at some time in their life. ie - not appreciating what they have and how lucky they are etc. Drop it on the other hand has got a kind of slow country feel to it; would be interesting to see if they took that sort of direction in the future. The last category is the sweeping, epic, rock ballady songs such as songs ending with /15ths and my favourite song on the album `The conversation is....' The easy comparison can be made to the Foo Fighters, but the reality is these are great songs, which definitely can be distinguished as Biffy's own. 

This really is a great album and its almost as if Biffy knew when they were writing it that this would be the one that made them big with lyrics like - `looks like we made it' from `A whole child ago' and `This is the one' from `Now I'm everyone'. Its almost as if they're trying to send subliminal messages to people, to brainwash them into loving the album..................well it worked for me anyway!