It’s not often that a sold out, 20,000 capacity O2 Arena gig acts as something of a warm up but, returning to the Greenwich tent ahead of their massive summer Finsbury Park show (a career peak with a crowd twice the size), such is the heavyweight status that Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro have attained for themselves. Biffy are that rare thing: a hard-riffing, heavy band still beloved by the rock crowd who’ve also cemented themselves as a Radio One-friendly, mainstream concern. Last summer, they played second from top on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage ahead of The 1975; suffice to say you wouldn’t find Slipknot, Sleep Token or many other former Download Festival headliners able to slot so successfully into that position.
The reasons why are here for all to see across their multi-dimensional O2 setlist - part of a stint out on the road to celebrate September’s excellent 10th studio album Futique, but curated with a tried-and-tested balance of gnarly, mosh-ready moments, anthemic sing-alongs, and enough pummelling stadium-sized lighting to turn you half-blind. Rock’n’roll sends some to an early grave and gives others a perma-young elixir of youth. Frontman Simon Neil, shirtless as always, is firmly in the latter camp - a grinning, screaming ball of energy who cuts the silhouette of someone half his age. If January is usually a month of early bedtimes and bundled up layers, then it’s a good night for topless fellas in general; support band Soft Play, fronted by drumming man-machine Isaac Holman, have such an enthusiastic crowd of fans that they leave them to sing many of the lyrics - a rare feat indeed for a warm-up band at an arena show like this.
