Biffy Clyro deliver triumphant, renewal-focused set in Nottingham

Biffy Clyro delivered a triumphant set in Nottingham, opening with Simon Neil crooning 'With a little love, we can conquer all' on the song 'A Little Love'. The Scottish band, 30 years and 10 albums in, are currently touring 2025's Futique and have come through a rough period: they experienced major burnout, band members fell out for the first time and founding member James Johnston pulled out of this tour due to mental health and addiction issues.

The new songs felt rooted in renewal, reconnection and newfound purpose, and Neil paid tribute to his departed bandmate on the urgent, zippy 'Friendshipping', described as an ode to maintaining relationships. Futique was recorded in Berlin, and the band said the ghosts of Bowie, Iggy and Nick Cave’s the Birthday Party "bled into the songs", though no such art-pop apparitions felt present tonight; instead the new material showed a rousing pop sensibility.

'Goodbye' built from a slow-burn ballad into an arms-aloft anthem, while 'Shot One' merged sugary melodies with meaty riffs in the group's familiar middle ground between rock, pop and metal. There was plenty of older material: dual violins on 'That Golden Rule' added a tense, wiry stab, 'Mountains' set the crowd pogoing, and an acoustic 'Machines' slowed to a whisper.

At their most eruptive the band were brutally loud, with taut riffs exploding on 'Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies'.

Key Topics

Culture, Biffy Clyro, Nottingham, Simon Neil, James Johnston, Futique