Biffy Clyro live at Mountford Hall, Liverpool, 29/10/21 

Review by David Lancaster.

I’m off to Mountford Hall to watch Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro tonight, I’ve never seen them before, apart from watching them playing huge festivals on my TV, but our editor assures me I’m gonna enjoy this evenings event, so I’m eagerly awaiting the show after giving their new album ‘The Myth of The Happily Ever After‘ a good few listens these last couple of days. We seem to wait a bit before this evening’s support band takes to the stage, but eventually, Bob Vylan are on.

Bob Vylan_Credit: Billy Vitch

Bob Vylan are a punk/grime duo who sing and rap about the uglier side of British life and what it’s like to live in post-Brexit London and a decaying UK. Bobby Vylan is on vocals here with his mate Bobbie Vylan behind the kit, bangin’ out some cool beats. First up from these guys is ‘Intro’ and Bobby tells us that we need to start with some yoga, and indeed he shows us some fine yoga moves as he limbers up on stage to some killer drumming from Bobbie, this is an incredible start and Bobby is already in the crowd after stage diving mid song, he seems to be singing and shouting while up-side down, incredible scenes!. The guys run through most of the songs off their last album ‘We Live Here‘, the title track from that LP is an “anti-gammon” song with amazing lyrics and a strong message. Bobby delivers his vocals with fury and animosity directed at all the racists living in the UK today. ‘England’s Ending’ is a prophetic message telling us that the country is basically on its knees, we’re all fucked and Bobby is telling us that we need change right now, how we need to get the dinosaurs out and that we should “kill the queen”, as she killed Diana. There is a heckler in the crowd who asks, “What is wrong with the queen?” and Bobby tells him that if he doesn’t know, then he’s probably come to the wrong gig. ‘Northern Line is a song about the claustrophobia of moving about London each day and travelling on the tube. ‘I Hear You Want Your Country Back‘ has a strong, powerful message, too. It’s a song once again directed to all the knuckle-draggers out there who fell for Farage’s nonsense a few years back, I’m thinking that this could be a new national anthem. ‘CSGB’ or ‘Chat Shit Get Banged’ again pushes the message out there that people are sick of the far right and their followers as Bobby calls for action, he dedicates this one to the heckler. He tells us that “death is what happens while you’re busy makin’ other plans”, and I think this might be a new genre of music, thrash/rap/punk/grime. Bobby tells us about his distrust of the Met and the Tory government, and he mentions Stephen Lawrence in his lyrics. This is the best warm-up act or support band I’ve seen in a long time. Bobby has his top off, showing us his Mo Salah-esque torso, and he is in fine shape as he climbs up the speaker stacks about 15 feet above the audience. Soon, he jumps back into the crowd to help a guy needing some medical attention. This duo brings all the problems faced by the UK’s working classes and Britain’s communities of colour out into the open. If they aren’t inviting us to join their revolution, then they are certainly asking us to join their discussion. I really like this London act and I’m hoping to catch them again soon. Everyone, please, do yourselves a favour and go check their music, catch a live show too. Bobby has a real charm about him and he comes across as a funny, smart but no-nonsense kind of fella.

Bob Vylan_Credit: Billy Vitch

What a warm-up we had there, and now the crowd are waiting for the main event, Mountford Hall is full with over two thousand people waiting to see their heroes from Kilmarnock tonight. Biffy keep us waiting, but the introduction music builds up the atmosphere brilliantly and, eventually, the guys walk to a rapturous reception. They open with a new song, ‘Dum Dum‘, as drinks are thrown into the air by the joyous crowd. The second song up is ‘A Hunger in Your Haunt’, another song from their new album, which was only released a few days ago. I’m impressed by the stunning light show here, the band have gone to town tonight, no expense has been spared here, impressive stuff indeed. The fellas debut 10 songs from their latest album tonight, and the first half of their set is packed with these new offerings, and the crowd know the tunes off by heart already. ‘Denier’ has some thunderous drumming, with Ben smashing his kit to pieces back there. James and Simon look smart at the front in their white and powder pink clothing, Neil in his white suit and James bouncing about all over the stage looking cool as fuck in his pink gear. The moshpit is up and running down in front of the stage, and it’s really kicking off now, steam is rising!!!. Next up is “Separate“, Simon asks us how we are all doing and thanks us for coming to see “The Rock Show”, and already this is one hell of a rock show. Neil shows his versatility here as a singer with an almost falsetto vocal, and between guitar parts, he plays us some funky keyboard riffs. This is a really inventive, experimental song, and I’m impressed by a slightly different sound on this one. ‘Holy Water’ sees Simon take his shirt off and strap his acoustic on. He tells UNESCO to get fucked and says that Liverpool will always be the bands “heritage city” the punters love this and they love this song too,  phones are in the air being waved like lighters used to be waved in the old days, the lads have the crowd in palm of their hands. ‘Haru Urara’ has nice vocals again, and this song has a jazzy groove to it; the audience joins in with some synchronised hand clapping. ‘Unkown Male 01’ starts with Simon as a pink silhouette, and the atmosphere in the hall is special now, magic is happening here tonight. The song gets heavy again and the mosh pit is back, these strobe lights are something else ..WOW!!! Next up is another new tune ‘Existed‘ again we get the “almost” falsetto vocal and this one is a bit dancey, Neil says “fucking hell Liverpool we’ve missed you guys”.. reminding us that his band haven’t played here since 2008. I think it’s great that they decided to open the tour here tonight. We are truly privileged to be seeing these songs getting played live for the first time. Next up is the wonderfully titled ‘Slurpy Slurpy Sleep Sleep‘, this is my favourite so far, with nice synth at the start, and this is an instant favourite with the crowd too. The heaviest tune so far this evening, and we see some amazing playing from the lads here. What a tune, what applause.. the roof just got blown off!!!!

Biffy Clyro_Credit: Billy Vitch

This tour was rearranged after being postponed due to COVID, but it’s certainly been worth the wait with this performance. I’m so impressed by the lad’s skills up there on stage, and I’d like to put a big thank you out to everybody involved who managed to get the show on here this evening. There is a nice familiarity about Biffy Clyro, who have been a band for over 25 years now, but I’m not sure they’ve ever sounded this good. For the last 70 minutes or so, we get the band’s biggest hits and more recognisable songs.‘God & Satan’ is just Simon Neil playing his acoustic; it’s a beautiful thing seeing the whole room singing with him. ‘That Golden Rule’ sees more beer getting lashed about as we move into another gear of heaviness, this song is almost thrash metal with a sing-a-long chorus thrown in. I enjoy ‘Biblical’ too, as the audience takes over the vocal duties once more, the whole place is a giant sweaty mosh-pit now, I mean literally, every inch of the hall is “moshing.

Biffy Clyro_Credit: Billy Vitch

This is an amazing show here tonight, and this song is a “hands in the air, balls out” anthem … “woah oh oh oh !!!!!” sing the crowd. Soon we get ‘Bubbles’ another mega favourite and everyone is dancing and bouncing about,  “Doo do do doo” sing the crowd in unison with the band. “The Biff” knows how to work a room, and they have skillfully mixed slower numbers like  ‘Mountains’ with their heavier monster tunes tonight. The lads leave us waiting for an encore now, but it’s not too long before they return with their last two songs. What can be said about ‘Many of Horror’ that hasn’t already been said? This is a BC classic, and it goes down like a fine malt here. This is such a powerful and emotive song. The lads say good night with ‘Cop Syrup’ and it’s and it’s a perfect end to a perfect night. Biffy Clyro are an iconic band, and their live shows are certainly worth seeing. They played for well over 2 hours tonight. “The Fingers Crossed” tour continues with shows coming up in London, Southampton and Bristol next month. If anyone reading this has a ticket for those sold-out shows, then you’re certainly very lucky and you’re in for one hell of a night…

Biffy Clyro_Credit: Billy Vitch

MON THE BIFF!!!!

Review by David Lancaster

Photography by Billy Vitch

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