Five years removed from their last concert in Music City, Biffy Clyro was back Thursday, headlining Brooklyn Bowl Nashville.
Joining the Scottish group was Dead Poet Society, an up-and-coming hard-rock band formed in Boston before moving out west. The four-piece rockers had the Nashville crowd cheering and loving the performance from the very start.
In the middle of their 45-minute performance, Dead Poet Society asked fans to pull out their phones. According to the group’s frontman, Jack Underkofler, they were scheduled to get a music video to their record label in a few days. However, without any time to record, they asked fans to record them performing the song “American Blood.” The group then told fans to message their live videos on Instagram, so they could splice those together to form the official music video for the track. So, that will be something that Music City fans will want to see when the video is officially released.
That only fueled the already engaged crowd during Thursday’s performance. In fact, when it was time to say goodnight and the band announced they would be playing their last song, Underkofler was met with a few audible boos. “Oh, shut the fuck up. A better band is up next,” Underkofler quipped before chuckling.
While having a massive amount of success in the United Kingdom, the last and only time Biffy Clyro had performed in Music City was in 2017 at the Mercy Lounge, a 500-capacity venue. Since then, the band has released two new albums, and their popularity has risen during that span, with nearly 1,100 fans on hand for the group’s return trip to Nashville. “It feels like we are making some new friends here. This is great,” drummer Ben Johnston said.
Even before the band walked on stage, the crowd was eager for Biffy Clyro to make their appearance. With 15 minutes left before the set time, multiple “Mon The Biff” chants broke out as they waited for the headliners. Midway through the group’s performance, the flag of Scotland was hurled on stage, with the same chant written on it. “The Tennessee flag is so similar to the Scottish flag,” joked lead singer Simon Neil.
A large portion of Biffy Clyro’s setlist was focused on the aforementioned newest albums. That wasn’t a problem as a large portion of the audience was familiar with that work, singing the lyrics with the band during the set.
The band did dig into its discography, including an acoustic rendition of “Machines,” as Neil took the stage by himself. Throughout the show, Biffy Clyro utilized the lighting to its advantage, which was no different during the slower track. As Neil sang, one light was focused on him, setting the mood for the rendition of the tune.
During other portions of the set, the group’s lighting moved and jumped around, going hand-in-hand with the instrumentals and the movement of the band members. There was one other moment where the lighting became the focus, which came during the performance of “Slurpy Slurpy Sleep Sleep.” As constant strobe lights hit, Neil and his counterparts remained robotically still, which made for a fun portion of the set, although it certainly could have made for an epileptic’s nightmare.
With COVID-19 restrictions slowly being lifted and the normalcy somewhat returning, it was evident that Biffy Clyro viewed Thursday’s show as nothing short of therapeutic. They made sure to thank the Nashville crowd for coming out and supporting them on this tour run.
“Two years ago, we didn’t think that we would ever get to travel again,” Neils said. “You know, it’s been a long last couple of years for everybody, and it means a whole to us that we are sharing this space with you guys. This is what life is all about right here, and we appreciate you coming to the show.”
Biffy Clyro will conclude its United States run on May 9, and their remaining tour dates can be seen here.