‘Take the pieces and build them skywards’- Biffy Back with a BANG!

Biffy Clyro give a show stopping finale to an eager crowd at Glasgow Green. Photo by Donald Erskine

It’s hard to write about your favourite band at the best of times, never mind when you are seeing them in the first large scale outdoor gig post-pandemic! Biffy Clyro are, in my opinion, the best Scottish band of all time, and the best live act I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. With my expectations and weather/virus anxiety high for my fifth time in seeing them, they did not disappoint.

Ayrshire rockers, Biffy Clyro, took Glasgow Green by storm on Thursday 9th September with their first Scottish show post-COVID. An outdoor gig in Glasgow during September was set to be unpredictable at best. With thundershowers forecast, this proposed electrifying weather epitomised the atmosphere throughout the day. Warm-up acts, consisting of Porridge Radio, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, and Yungblud, had the task of warming up an eager yet anxious crowd of more than 40,000 people! They all delivered and with each act, the crowd grew larger and more excitable. Come 9pm I, and the sea of people surrounding me were raring to go. Thunder, hail, rain or whatever the weather could throw at us couldn’t bother us now.

Biffy Clyro then took to the stage. The band, consisting of Simon Neil, James Johnston and Ben Johnston walked on stage to an on-brand obscure track by The Mothers of Invention, “Mother People.” Their entrance received the loudest cheer I have ever heard and they stood for a full two minutes after the track died away, soaking in the applause and the moment. Biffy were back!

The opening track, ‘North of No South’ from the most recent album ‘A Celebration of Endings’, kicked in with the intro riff sending the crowd into a frenzy.

What followed was a diverse and intertwining set, pulling together songs from their extremely extensive repertoires. Songs such as ‘That Golden Rule’, ‘57’, ‘Mountains’ and ‘Biblical’, proved crowd favourites. Technically, these songs are much more advanced and are a joy to watch being performed in person.

The thunderstorms that had threatened appeared to be rearing their head, almost in protest of the thunderous noise being produced by Biffy Clyro and the adoring crowd. As the band began to sing ‘Black Chandelier’, the lyrics beginning ‘Drip, Drip, Drip Drip’, we felt the first of what would be the only raindrops of the night. Our combined might of sound appeared to have won the battle with the weather.

Simon Neil’s honest and charismatic approach helped keep the crowd in the palm of his hand and they were receiving plenty back from the audience too. Neil exclaimed to the crowd: “You’re the loudest crowd ever” in pure joy as each song met a deafening chorus. Reports after the event claimed that people as far as eight miles away could hear the concert. this was no wonder with the wall of sound created by Neil and the duo of Ben and James Johnston as omnipresent as always. Songs such as ‘There’s No Such Thing as a Jaggy Snake’ show the bands expertise, going from quiet technical details to ear-drum-shattering feats at the drop of a hat.

Visually, Biffy’s show has come into a league of its own. Lights, flames, accompanying videos, and fireworks all added to the icing on top of the rock cake; your ticket gave you access to a live art show as well as an ear-ringing concert. This was epitomised in the first live performance of the new song, ‘Unknown Male 01’. A monstrous six-minute track, the song meets heartfelt lyrics, dealing with suicide, with guitar, bass and drum sound anyone would be hard pushed not to headbang to.

Approaching the encore, heavyweight tracks such as ‘Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies’, ‘Bubbles’ and ‘Many of Horror’ received off-the-scale adoration. The crowd savoured every moment of this pandemic-forced homecoming. The crowd were all respectful of any restrictions and it was calming to know that anyone that had gained entry had tested negative. This allowed us all to be free to sing, dance and mosh-pit the night away.

The chant for an encore was also the loudest I’ve heard; a shout of the band's unofficial slogan “Biffy F****n Clyro” welcomed them back to the stage. ‘Different People’ and ‘Cop Syrup’ brought the onslaught of sound to a close. The fireworks accompanying the end of the ‘Cop Syrup’ lit up Glasgow, chasing away the darkness brought by the clouds of COVID. Not many bands could follow an electrifying set like that with an acoustic song however staple song, ‘Machines’, make Biffy Clyro the exception to that. Neil brought out the Takamine acoustic guitar on stage with the declaration: “We’ve been playing Glasgow for 20 years and each time I think you can’t get any better, but you do, so I’m going to try and thank you the best way I can.”

The rendition of ‘Machines’ that followed was simply beautiful, the crowd playing our part in the call and response of the chorus: “I’ve started falling apart I'm not savouring life. Take the pieces and build them skywards. I’ve forgotten how good it could be to feel alive. Take the pieces and build them skywards.”

The song, written at the time of Simon’s mother’s death, could not have been a more fitting and poignant end to the show. It turned the whole Green into a mass group therapy session; everyone screaming cathartically to heal their grieving hearts for the people and moments lost over the past year and a half.

Biffy Clyro served up a masterclass in comeback concerts. They also paved the way for large scale events to return with TRNSMT Festival on the following three days, with a multitude of talents from across the country and globe. The new format works. A collective sigh of relief will have been felt by the entire events industry as they return to a new normal and, most importantly, to gainful employment. Biffy Clyro turned a crowd capable of sending thunderstorms away into a crowd willing to gain the strength to pick up the pieces of their lives and build them back skywards. It's time we all remembered how good it can be to feel alive.

See the Setlist for the show here.