Review by Paddy Gallagher for MPM
Well, here we are in 2026 and the Gig Mobile hits the road again on the first of many trips this year. It’s a cold one with temperatures in and around the freezing mark but its dry so the huskies can stay wrapped up in their kennel for another while.
This is the first night of Biffy Clyro’s Futique UK/IE Tour, and indeed the first night of touring anywhere in support of their recently released new studio album of the same name. Special guests are SOFTPLAY, a “two-man boy band” (according to their website) from England who produce a punk tinged alternatively guitar-oriented sound; known as Slaves until 2022 they have 116K followers on Facebook and a substantial tour of the USA was completed in 2025. These guys are heading in the right direction with latest studio album “Heavy Jelly” released in 2024. Openers tonight are The Armed, a Hardcore Punk band from Detroit, Michigan with a sizeable 13K following on Facebook where it’s stated their discography is free and lossless at their website.
Headliners Biffy Clyro start this tour not too far from home with a short hop across the North Channel from Ayrshire in Scotland to The Odyssey Arena in Belfast. A 3-piece, they have been on the go since 1995 with debut album “Blackened Sky” arriving in 2002; fast-forward to 2026 and they are now touring in support of their tenth studio album “Futique”.
Consisting of brothers Ben (on drums) and James Johnston (bass) along with Simon Neil (vocals, guitar, etc.) since their inception, they are playing this tour with Naomi Macleod filling in for James on bass who has chosen to sit this tour out for health reasons.
After picking up our tickets at the Box Office, 3 of the 4 members of Team MPM present take our seats while the 4th is snap happy in the photographer’s pit. It is a bit of an early start tonight with openers The Armed taking to the stage to circa 300 audience circling the protruding point of the triangular fronted stage with sporadic seating taken throughout the seated tiers. Being a workday, many would have found it nigh on impossible to get here for the start of proceedings or maybe knowing about the cold wafts of air permeating from the covered ice rink where Belfast Giants ply their trade in the Elite Ice Hockey League, some may have decided to wait until as late as possible to join proceedings. It may have been as cold inside as outside.
Whatever the reason, they missed an energetic cacophony of movement surprisingly devoid of mid-stage collisions of band members as The Armed regaled us with their Avant-garde Punk reminiscent of The Ramones in places with a jazz fusion vibe. I counted 6 on stage tonight which I believe can vary in number and name as according to the ever-reliable wiko-pee-dia the core members are supplemented by a revolving collective of personnel.
A quick change over and special guests SOFTPLAY take to the stage to a bigger crowd. And rewarded with a fine show those present were!! These lads make quite a sound for a two piece with a guitar and half a drumkit as alluded to in their song “Fuck the Hi-Hat”. A superb set flowed which involved both members heading down into crowd for a walkabout and a brief introduction to why they’re only a two-piece with minimal gear.
Classic punk riffage galore ensued with clear influence from their predecessors in punk the Ramones and Rancid. The more metal inclined amongst us could hear definite similarities to the more punkish Anthrax riffs; many tonight Scott Ian would have been proud to write.
Before tonight a good proportion of the crowd wouldn’t have been familiar with SOFTPLAY, but anyone I was speaking to afterwards reckoned they were superb and a surprise package. More fans are now added to their base who appreciate their take on the art of punk!
As the changeover to headliners Biffy Clyro took place refreshments were got and the arena filled up to capacity, plastic tumblers in hand and anticipation grew as the Biffy curtain call neared.
The house lights dimmed and intro tape rolled as “A Little Love” from the new album got us under way from behind drapes that had various images of the band projected onto them. The repeating piano intro leading into Ben’s drum rolls and the violins of the two piece Biffy Strings as Neil implores “I can’t divorce you; you put me through hell…” and the first of many singalong choruses erupts as the crowd joined in singing “with a little love, if you want it, we can conquer it all.” The drapes then rise partially revealing the band as we kick into “Hunting Season” without delay.
This gives us a first look at the stage set design. And breathtakingly different to the norm it is, as is the lighting design. An intriguing construction we have steps leading at varying angles to platforms resplendent with microphone stands which are used by various band members and touring musicians throughout the gig, who will appear and where they appear next is the question; in fact, the only musicians who don’t leave their allocated area are longtime touring members Mike Vennart on guitar and Richard Ingram on piano. A superb lighting design adds to the atmosphere throughout the night, with the use of the drapes rising and lowering to various heights and bearing projections with side stage screens of the band combining to generate an overall setting that cements Biffy’s live reputation as one of the best. It’s top-drawer stuff that complements the music and obviously took the meeting of ingenious minds to create.
The drape raises further for “That Golden Rule”, violins adding depth behind the riffs, a common theme in the Biffy live experience. Chugging along comes “Who’s Got A Match” with the chant-a-long “I’m a fire and I’ll burn burn burn tonight” is followed by the luscious “Space”; “When we were young and still in love..” sings Neil accompanied by piano as the song builds to a singalong “always a space in my heart, I’m still caught in your gravity” the Biffy crowd knows the words as well as the band knows them. The night is filled with these moments.
After a spot of headbanging to “Wolves of Winter”, “Tiny Indoor Fireworks” and “Goodbye” leads us to the poignant “Friendshipping” where Neil pays tribute to James, their bandmate sitting out this tour to bravely tackle his health issues. This is no doubt an emotional time for the band being a tight knit three piece, it may be the first time one of the three wasn’t on the stage with the others. Filling in for James on bass for this tour is Naomi Macleod who is welcomed to the fold by Simon; Naomi fills the role impeccably and her history of being onstage with Neil and Mike Vennart in their side project “Empire State Bastard” eases the process, with Neil jokingly saying Naomi had no Christmas break rehearsing Biffy songs.
The anthemic “Biblical” is a showstopper. What a fantastically constructed song that lifts the roof off the venue. Then, the tempo slows again as “A Thousand and One” deals with regret, apology and redemption.
Breathtaking singalongs on cue are par for the course at a Biffy gig and continue unabated, and more praise must be lavished on the vocal melodies from Simon that add so much to Biffy’s sound; where does he get his energy from as he contorts about stage pouring his emotions into the songs? Let’s not forget the valuable input of the violins of the ladies in Biffy fuckin Strings who’s backing brings Biffy’s orchestration to the stage.
“Different People”, “Hunger in Your Heart” follow leading to “drip, drip, drip, drip….” And the excellent “Black Chandelier” dealing with rejection and internal struggles with the touching lyric “You left my heart like an abandoned car, old and worn out, no use at all”. “Instant History” leads us to another Biffy anthem “Mountains” and again the roof shakes above us. The piano intro to “Two People in Love” heralds in this cracker from the new album before the drapes lower again for an acoustic led “Machines”. This saw the band sitting on the steps watching on as Simon’s emotional vocals were aided by a mournful violin and visuals providing atmospheric bliss for a song that means so much to so many!
After a very brief interlude the band launch into the last four songs of the night with “The Captain” getting the crowd bouncing, singing and woahing. The orchestral tinged start to “Living is a Problem Because Everything Dies” build and builds to a heavy up-tempo cracker of a tune. We have the beautiful “Bubbles” where Simon asks, “Well how’s your view of things today?”
The night closes with thanks from Neil for us being there….as if we would miss it! And a song that must be the closer as to put anything after it would be an anti-climax; The superb “Many of Horror” complete with the audience taking over the singing of the chorus.
Biffy Clyro has grown over the years with this production a testament to that. This run takes in Ireland and the UK before heading off into mainland Europe and on to Australia and New Zealand in the Spring. This was a show that has set the bar high for 2026. It will be hard to top this! Unless we get to catch The Biff again.
“We are Biffy Fuckin’ Clyro” cries Neil. “’Mon The Biff” cries everyone else! Superb!!!
Photography by MPM
