Royal Albert Hall, London
There's something irresistible about a band who anticipate generating so much sweat on stage that they come on shirtless. None of the three members of Ayrshire's Biffy Clyro is wearing anything but tattoos above the waist as they rumble into action at this Teenage Cancer Trust gig – and within minutes the reason is evident. While the recorded versions of their songs can be subtle and affecting, the live renditions are strictly and gruntingly physical, with no letup save a brief acoustic segment midway through. Ten minutes in, singer Simon Neil's hair is stuck to his face.
It's their subtleties that have brought Biffy Clyro occasional brushes with mainstream fame. Their album Only Revolutions was nominated for the 2010 Mercury prize, and the pretty single Many of Horror was requisitioned to serve as X-Factor winner Matt Cardle's Christmas No 1. But the straightforward muscularity of their live show is what has kept their fanbase onboard during a decade of slog. Now that Clyro are selling 600,000 copies per album, they have zinged up the set, with eye-scorching lights and a PA so powerful it makes a bottle sitting on a table near me judder. Yet the core of the show remains their guitar/drums attack and songs with simple, fist-pumping choruses.
Frequently, there's only the chorus to distinguish one song from another, but few would dispute the impact of 3,000 people emphatically singing: "I'm a fire, and I'll burn, burn, burn tonight" on Who's Got a Match. Born on a Horse differs from the rest by virtue of its clip-cloppy beat, produced on a mini-keyboard by bassist James Johnston, and Many of Horror is different again, simply because it's impossible to expunge thoughts of Cardle throughout. Clyro make no comment about it. They simply thrash on, dependable rockers to the last.