Watch Biffy Clyro play ‘Blackened Sky’ in full along with rarities as they kick off London residency
Biffy Clyro played their debut album ‘Blackened Sky’ in full at a special show in London last night (October 20). Check out fan-shot footage below, as well as photos and the setlist.
The Scottish band kicked off a three-night, retrospective residency at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in the capital. Dubbed ‘A Celebration Of Beginnings’, the stint will see Simon Neil and co. play their first three studio records in their entirety.
They’ll then do the same at the iconic Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow later this week, ahead of the group’s yet-to-be-announced 10th full-length album being released.
Taking to the stage yesterday, Biffy ran through all 12 tracks from 2002’s ‘Blackened Sky’ in order. The set included the first live outing of the song ‘Solution Devices’ since 2005, per Setlist.FM.
The cuts ‘Joy.Discovery.Invention’, ’27’, ‘Kill The Old, Torture Their Young’, ‘The Go-Slow’, ‘Convex, Concave’, ‘Hero Management’, ‘Stress On The Sky’ and ‘Scary Mary’ all made their first appearances in a Biffy set in 10 years.
During the second set of the night, Biffy Clyro treated fans to a performance of the ‘Blackened Sky’-era B-side ‘Hope For An Angel’ (its first live airing since 2014).
Before that, they played 2007’s ‘A Whole Child Ago’ and 2013’s ‘Modern Magic Formula’ – both appearing for the first time since 2017. There were also the first live versions of ‘Howl’ and ‘Fever Dream’ in five years.
Neil returned to the stage to begin a two-track encore with a solo acoustic rendition of ‘Break A Butterfly On A Wheel’ from Biffy’s 2014 compilation ‘Similarities’ – which contains B-sides from 2013’s ‘Opposites’. This marked the track’s first appearance in the set in a decade.
The show concluded with the first performance of ‘Stingin’ Belle’ in five years.
Sharing a series of official photos from the gig, Biffy Clyro wrote: “Blown away by you London #BiffyACOB night 1 – ‘Blackened Sky’.” You can see that post above, and find more footage below.
Biffy Clyro played:
‘Blackened Sky’
1. ‘Joy.Discovery.Invention’ (first time live since 2014)
2. ’27’ (first time live since 2014)
3. ‘Justboy’ (first time live since 2018)
4. ‘Kill The Old, Torture Their Young’ (first time live since 2014)
5. ‘The Go-Slow’ (first time live since 2014)
6. ‘Christopher’s River’
7. ‘Convex, Concave’ (first time live since 2014)
8. ’57’
9. ‘Hero Management’ (first time live since 2014)
10. ‘Solution Devices’ (first time live since 2005)
11. ‘Stress On The Sky’ (first time live since 2014)
12. ‘Scary Mary’ (first time live since 2014)
Set two
13. ‘A Hunger In Your Haunt’
14. ‘Howl’ (first time live since 2019)
15. ‘Fever Dream’ (first time live since 2019)
16. ‘A Whole Child Ago’ (first time live since 2017)
17. ‘Modern Magic Formula’ (first time live since 2017)
18. ‘Space’
19. ‘Hope For An Angel’ (first time live since 2014)
20. ‘Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies’
21. ‘The Pink Limit’
22. ‘Witch’s Cup’
23. ‘Bubbles’
Encore
24. ‘Break A Butterfly On A Wheel’ (Simon Neil solo acoustic, first time live since 2014)
25. ‘Stingin’ Belle’ (first time live since 2019)
Biffy Clyro’s remaining ‘A Celebration Of Beginnings’ tour dates are:
OCTOBER
21 – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London (‘Vertigo Of Bliss’)
22 – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London (‘Infinity Land’)
24 – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow (‘Blackened Sky’)
25 – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow (‘Vertigo Of Bliss’)
26 – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow (‘Infinity Land’)
Biffy Clyro’s ninth and most recent studio album, ‘The Myth Of The Happily Ever After’, arrived in 2021. When confirming the current ‘Celebration Of Beginnings’ dates in March, the band teased that “Biffy X” would follow – suggesting that their 10th album was on the horizon.
Last week, it was announced that the group would be reissuing their first three LPs on limited edition vinyl.
Biffy Clyro played their first live show together since 2022 this summer when they headlined The Piece Hall in Halifax. Shortly afterwards, they topped the bill at Victorious Festival 2024 in Portsmouth. They are currently scheduled to appear at Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Hurricane Festival and Southside Festival in Germany next summer.
In recent years, Neil has been busy with his long-mooted grindcore side-project Empire State Bastard with Oceansize‘s Mike Vennart, Slayer‘s Dave Lombardo and Bitch Falcon‘s Naomi Macleod – releasing debut album ‘Rivers Of Heresy’ last year.
Speaking to NME in 2021, frontman Neil explained of Biffy Clyro’s latest album: “There are some songs where I’m singing about forgiveness, some are about hope for the future, and on others I’m being a total nihilist and a misanthrope – thinking, ‘We’re the bacteria eating up the world’.
“I wasn’t afraid of that. No one can process the impact that the last year has had on us mentally, physically and on our behaviours. It’ll be another five or 10 years before we realise that.”
The post Watch Biffy Clyro play ‘Blackened Sky’ in full along with rarities as they kick off London residency appeared first on NME.
Tom Skinner
NME
