Ahead of tonight’s intimate fundraiser for War Child, it was announced that the support band was to be a very special guest. It was no word of a lie, as the opening act is… Biffy Clyro, who reward the long‑time faithful with an electrifying set of old favourites from their first three albums. They’re on the attack while the whole room swoons to the soaring chorus of Justboy, frontman Simon Neil, prowling behind his thick mane, tearing into the full-throated howls of There’s No Such Thing As A Jaggy Snake with the ferocity of a lion bringing down a gazelle.
Set two brings us up to date, stuffed with the bona fide hits that have made them one of the UK’s biggest bands. After December’s winter tour of the country’s sheds, they take on a new intimacy in this beautiful theatre, the core trio of Neil, bassist James Johnston and drummer Ben Johnston going eyeball to eyeball with their followers.
They’ve always been passionate, but tonight is on another level. Stripped of their full arena production, it’s down to human connection, sweat and songs that, even at their most accessible, retain a wonderful oddness that sets them apart from their peers. The reason we fell in love with them in the first place, in other words. They wring every last singalong drop from The Captain, and then they’re gone, leaving the audience on a high that’ll last for weeks.
