BIFFY CLYRO @LG Arena 21/3/13

We have spoken before on this blog about feeling like an outsider at the odd gig we go to. Looking around the NEC tonight that is definitely the case here. The LG arena is close to being full- the floor in particular is packed – but RTM feels somewhat like a tourist.

You get the impression, that, for a lot of the people here this might well be the gig event of the year. For them its “Biffy Clyro!!” for us, it’s a gig ticket we bought literally on impulse while buying a Status Quo one last year. They had gone on sale that day and it was a case of “oh I’ve never seen these, I think I will.”

And that very much sums up RTM’s relationship with Biffy. A band we have casually liked for a number of years since someone in the very early days of file sharing handed us a copy of their debut album “Blackened Sky.” In fact is wasn’t until the release of this years sprawling and ambitious double album “Opposites” that we sat down and listened to one of their albums all the way through.

Nonetheless, here we are and what we find, actually, is a very, very good arena rock show, polished and full of massive sounding songs.

It is a show that starts with the three main members of Biffy – singer Simon Neil, bass man James Johnston and drummer Ben Johnston – all topless. The set, as an arena band should, includes walkways into the audience and a Bruce Dickinson-style ego ramp behind the drums – although this isn’t used too much suggesting that the band isn’t entirely comfortable with the more overt signs of over the top production.

Show opener “Different People” is one of no fewer than 13 songs from “Opposites” that are aired during the course of a very near two hours set, with “Black Chandelier” sounding absolutely fantastic.

During the course of that set, Biffy show while they connect with quite so many people in quite such a way. Their songs are by turns blistering metal riffs, “A Day Of” for example  echoes RTM favourites Kerbdog, “Biblical” is a singalong chocked full of whoa whoa parts and at points they almost do a passable impression of strutting Bowie-esque glam rock. Then Neil is on his own, stage front delivering the fantastic “God and Satan” with just an acoustic guitar.

“Many of Horror” sounds absolutely enormous in this setting and the perfect song for 10,000 people to sing, although arguably that might be topped by “The Captain” is the set closer.

The encores too are delivered with an obvious passion and as the band say their goodbyes, whether a casual observer or hardened fan, you have to say that Biffy can sell these Places out because they are a very good band with very good songs – and whilst they will never be in our top 20 (or even 50) bands, sometimes being a good band with good songs is enough.