Biffy Clyro will take a deep dive into their past in October with the recently-announced A Celebration Of Beginnings shows. The gigs will see the Scottish rock trio revisit their first three records – 2002’s Blackened Sky, 2003’s The Vertigo Of Bliss and 2004’s Infinity Land – over six shows taking place three apiece in Glasgow and London. Released on Beggars Banquet, the albums stylistically pinballed all over the shop, taking in experimental rock, post-hardcore, prog-punk and much more as Simon Neil and the Johnston twins worked out what sort of band they wanted to be. Of course, in time they would realise the answer was a hugely anthemic one that played the UK’s biggest venues with a fine collection in yearning singalongs that contained the odd diversion into their more tricksy earlier selves. But those early days left a big mark, which is probably why the band are keen to pay tribute to them in London and Glasgow. Speaking to this writer in 2017, frontman Neil said even though they only spanned a few years, those formative releases felt like the crucial chapter in their history.
“When I look back, I realise how lucky we were to be naïve and ignorant of the music industry and bands in general. Now when I look back, there’s probably a few points where if we’d known more, we might have gone, “we’ll just do it as a hobby, let’s just play in the garage together.” Because we didn’t know what was happening, ignorance was bliss,” Neil said. “I wouldn’t change a thing but I’m really proud of how we started, we were so cocksure and really didn’t consider the big picture. You’ve got to be aware of the big picture but when it comes to shit like music, it’s your little world.”
