It’s a shame that the Scottish three piece had to play Southampton so early on in the tour, not anything negative on their part, rather the fact that the tours main support, Canada’s much hyped Manchester Orchestra are currently completing a support slot in the USA and are unable to fill their early commitments.
In their place are Tellison, a West London based indie foursome who despite their best efforts just lack any kind of punch to wake up the early arrivals. If Tellison lacked a punch then Pulled Apart By Horses could give Mike Tyson a run for his money. What follows is a brash crescendo of organised chaos in danger of falling apart at any second. While not as radio friendly as their hosts, PABH put in a stellar shift that will have bought the boys from Leeds numerous new admirers.
The large curtain that had split the stage is now removed to reveal a lighting rig as epic as Biffy Clyro’s sound. The usual chants of “’mon the Biff” seem somewhat muted for a change before they strut out onstage to deliver a monstrous 23 song set, starting off with ‘Only Revolutions’ opener ‘That Golden Rule’. A set that promises both old and new, is better defined as ‘Puzzle’ and new, with only 4 songs taken from the 3 albums that preceded their eponymous breakthrough to the mainstream. Not that there will be too many complaints from tonight’s sold out crowd.
Each cut from Biffy Clyro’s 2007 release is warmly received by a crowd seemingly happy to just stand still and soak up the spectacle before them. It’s not until the set draws to a close with the aptly named ‘Saturday Superhouse’ and latest single ‘The Captain’ that really raises the intensity in the crowd. By the time the encore rolls around Simon Neil has removed his shirt to reveal the live look that has become a trademark for many a Biffy Clyro fan over the years, and even if the acoustic driven ‘As Dust Dances’ slows down the heartbeat of the audience, and makes me wish that people still swayed their lighters to slow songs, before ‘Mountains’ picks the audience back up and sends them off into the night.
Words and Photo by Benji Walker
