LIVE REVIEW – Biffy Clyro, Perth – 12 Sep 2014

LIVE REVIEW – Biffy Clyro, Perth – 12 Sep 2014
Biffy Clyro with Calling All Cars
Metro City, Perth – Friday 12 September 2014
Reviewed by Kevin Curran (Biffy Clyro) & Stuart McKay (Calling All Cars)
Photography by Stuart McKay

Melbourne three piece Calling All Cars – who recently re-located to the UK – were chosen to support Biffy Clyro nationally. Being no strangers to supporting the big boys, with previous tours including; AC/DC, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age and Green Day on their resume, it’s no wonder they were picked for this prestigious privilege. A strong crowd gathered to watch the boys as they launched headfirst into a confident and energetic performance playing songs from their new release Raise The People as well as some old fan favourites. Lead singer and guitarist Haydn Ing really showed his prowess as a front man by taking his mic stand over the barrier into the crowd to play Triple J favourite Animal. As he got back onto the stage it was safe to say that he and the band had well and truly won over the crowd, which was evident in the warm reception they received as they exited the stage to make way for the headliners.

Unfortunately due to having my own gig I wasn’t able to catch opening band Calling All Cars but the good thing is I arrived just in time to catch the shirtless Scots in Biffy Clyro arrive onstage to a near full Metro City.

It’s been a long time in between drinks since I last saw Biffy Clyro, supporting Velvet Revolver in – funnily enough – Glasgow, Scotland (circa 2005). The energy level of the band is night and day from what it was and their sound is now one that can fill arenas with their big lush anthemic sing-a-longs.

The band opened proceedings with Different People off their latest offering Opposites, which started a trend for the night in that the majority of the crowd sang along to every song. One great thing that Biffy has in their favour is drummer Ben Johnston and bass player James Johnston, who both sing but also have similar tonal qualities to vocalist Simon Neil.

Next up was The Golden Rule off the Only Revolutions record which brang the balls! Such a powerhouse tune that took energy up to the next level, this followed with sing along The Captain which has an almost Weezer vibe to it, allowing Neil to scale the speakers.

Sounds Like Balloons and Who’s Got A Match from the Puzzle record brought the fun factor to the set, the latter perhaps taking a page from the Status Quo riff book.

I have to note the lighting for this show was really top notch and added to the show greatly. The band say very little in-between songs and let the music do all the talking so having excellent lighting enhanced their music greatly.

Up next was 57 from their debut album Blackened Sky, which kept the old school fans happy before going onto more of softer ballad approach for the second half of the set, seeing Neil bring out the acoustic for God and Satan.

One of the highlights was Black Chandelier off the latest record, which got the crowd’s voice to its peak and its monster riff and heavy breakdown was purely awesome! This followed with crowd favourite Bubbles.

The band exited the stage only for Neil to come back out with the acoustic for the track Machines, before ending the night with the powerful Stingin’ Belle and finishing with arguably their biggest hit in Mountains.

Well executed songs, great sound and lighting, with only a few words to say thanks for coming: it really was kept quite simple but effective and professional for one of Scotland’s best modern exports.

Kevin Curran is guitarist & lead singer of Hailmary
Stuart McKay is guitarist & lead singer of Nevsky Prospekt

Category: Live Reviews