Live Report: Biffy Clyro at The Helix

Simon Neil greets us with a characteristic grin, but there’s very little else characteristic about our encounter with him tonight.

We’re at The Helix, a suburban university theatre, for an quiet, intimate acoustic show, and the perennially shirtless livewire has gone all tops oan and has elected to take a seat. “This is weird,” he says, and it is.

Embarking on an acoustic tour is a brave step for a band that conquered the world partially due to the scale of their live energy. This tour marks part of the revival of the MTV Unplugged brand, and as 90s kids, Biffy jumped at the chance to emulate heroes Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

While they’ve done this show once before, at London’s Roundhouse last year, it still feels like we’re guinea pigs for a new venture tonight. The Helix’s notoriously weak sound doesn’t help matters to begin with - Neil’s lead guitar is very muted as the band kick off with ‘The Captain’ - it almost feels like an acapella singalong, so prominent are the vocals. Luckily the choruses are big enough to get away with it. 

It’s something that vindicates the band’s choice to play a tour like this - the kind of confidence in their own songwriting, faith that they can pull off two hours with no bells and whistles. It’s their biggest ballads that provide the nights’ best moments - the likes of ‘God & Satan’, ‘Folding Stars’ and of course, ‘Many of Horror’.

That’s not to say that they had no help - touring member Mike Vennart is on hand to add volume, and there’s a cellist and pianist hopping in and out too. In a highlight for hardcore fans,   a new song, ‘Adored’ gets its first airing - Neil baring his soul alone onstage, without the crutch of a guitar to hold, backed by piano alone.

Sadly sound issues persist throughout - the solos on ‘Bubbles’ sound like they’re coming from the next room. An attempt at going 100% unplugged for ‘Friends and Enemies’ doesn’t quite work out - the crowd not quite sure of their cues to continue the singalong. It’s a matter of relativity - The Helix is an intimate venue for Biffy, but not intimate enough for that.

In their early days as purveyors of angular, twisted, math-rock inspired angst anthems it was their pop sensibilities and ear for a chorus that made them stand out and propelled them towards stardom. It also rescued them from total disaster tonight, in a room that did them no favours whatsoever.