The name might have you scratching your head, but the Scottish rock ‘n’ roll three-piece is probably the biggest band you’ve never heard of. In the United Kingdom, the band is only second to Muse in popularity and headlines major festivals all over Europe; the shows are energetic and the stuff of legends.
Which begs the question: Why is Biffy Clyro all but unknown over in the U.S.? The band is in the middle of a North American tour and had its first headline show at our small city venue, the Clubhouse, on Friday night. Those who made it to the show saw what we have been missing here in the States for so long: a down-and-dirty rock band.
The band came on stage clad in their notorious gig gear: shirtless with pastel skinny pants and Converse. Not wasting any time, the band delved right into its epic anthem “The Captain,” a loud, almost orchestral piece that was given new life as it was jammed on by the band’s core members.
Biffy Clyro’s true musicianship showed during difficult pieces such as “Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies.” Using odd time signatures, syncopated drum lines and unconventional guitar riffs, this piece could very easily become a trainwreck at any second, yet the band is so tight the whole thing sounds flawless.
The band played a majority of the tracks off its Mercury Award-nominated album “Our Revolutions,” including the much-publicized track “Many Of Horror.” For those of you not up to date on British pop music, Simon Cowell’s music competition X-Factor redid this Biffy Clyro song but changed the words and even the title for the winner of the competition to sing for his final song. This move got a lot of backlash from Biffy’s fans but the band seem un-phased as they ran through the expansive ballad. The song is an instant classic and it’s not hard to see why Biffy fans would want to keep it just for Biffy.
As the band closed with “Mountains,” another anthemic rock sing-along, the audience did not want the show to end and the band to pack up. Even after all the success abroad and all the festivals and arena tours, the guys of Biffy Clyro did not seem to mind at all that they were playing a small bar in Tempe.
If anything, the musicians played as hard as they could just to tear the place down. It was an unbelievable set that took a while to process, but when it did — wow.
The secret’s out about Biffy Clyro; as their fans say, “Mon the Biffy!”
Reach the reporter at jgwynn@asu.edu
