BIFFY CLYRO + THIS GIRL.
AT HULL UNI. 24/09/04.
I�ve never really being much of Biffy Clyro fan to be honest. I saw them about 3 years ago and thought they were ok, but certainly nothing special. The main reason I went along to the gig the other night was to see support band, This Girl.
Yorkshire's finest and hardest working band are currently on tour promoting new single �Master Blaster�. They were on stage really early though for some reason, which resulted in us missing nearly all of their 30 minute set. All apart from their final song, for which we were stood near the back of the venue. I wasn�t amused.
Afterwards, I wandered down into �the pit� just in time for Biffy. Following an instore appearance in HMV a few hours previous, the band strolled on stage at about 9.15 and the kids went crazy. Much of the crowd was made up of Uni students. I soon realised that most Uni students are total dickheads. I�m a Uni student too, but unlike most of the peeps in the crowd, I don�t find pushing each other around or throwing drinks at each other much fun. I got really crushed a few times. I�ve survived far worse though, I was once saw Steps live.
Call me old fashioned if you like, but I go to gigs for the music, not to act like a 8 year old. I can see why the crowd did those things though, that stuff was way more entertaining than watching Biffy Clyro! Jeez, just how boring are they live?!! When I see a band, I like to be entertained, I like bands that make an effort, bands with energy, bands that interact with the crowd.
Biffy have no stage presence whatsoever. They barely moved during their 70 minutes on stage. They have no energy and no chemistry between em. And as for interacting with the crowd, well, just forget it, it�s quite clearly never going to happen. Lead singer Simon mumbled the word �Thankyou� once or twice but made no attempt to actually talk to the crowd or encage in some kind of conversation with them.
He is one of the most miserable and arrogant front men in any band ever. They seem like the type of band who don�t appreciate anything. They certainly don�t appreciate a bunch of poor students spending their beer money on Biffy Clyro gig tickets and the like. They couldn�t care less about their �fans�.
So, we�ve established the fact that Biffy Clyro suck live, but what about their songs? Well� they suck too. They have one or two half decent tracks, �Questions & Answers� and �57� for example, but most are pretty average, there is nothing much that really stands out.
Their 3rd album, �Infinity Land�, is out in October. I wasn�t particularly impressed by any of the tracks from it that were aired at the gig. As a band, Biffy don�t seem to have progressed much musically or lyrically since debut album, �Blackened Sky� was released back in 2001. Their live shows maybe longer now, but that doesn�t make them better. They have a lot to learn.
BY MR MARTYN. |