Biffy Clyro played their second album ‘The Vertigo Of Bliss’ in its entirety at a special London show last night (October 21), as well as a number of rarities. Check out footage and the full setlist below.
The gig was held at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, and marked the halfway point of the Scottish band’s three-night, retrospective residency at the venue.
The residency is called ‘A Celebration Of Beginnings’, and will see Simon Neil and co. play their first three studio records in their entirety. After the final show in London wraps up tonight (22), when they play ‘Infinity Land’, they’ll head over to Glasgow to do the same at the iconic Barrowland Ballroom.
After playing ‘Blackened Sky’ in full on Sunday’s show (20), last night’s gig was centred around Biffy’s 2003 album ‘The Vertigo Of Bliss’.
The first half of the hefty, 26-song setlist saw the full tracklist of the LP played in full, chronological order. Opening with ‘Bodies In Flight’, the show in the capital marked the first time the song was performed since 2014. The same goes for ‘The Ideal Height’, ‘With Aplomb’, ‘Liberate the Illiterate/A Mong Among Mingers’, ‘Eradicate The Doubt’ and ‘Now The Action Is On Fire’.
Other songs on the tracklist that were aired out for the first time in a while included ‘A Day Of’, which hadn’t been played since 2013, ‘When The Faction’s Fractioned'(first time since 2008) and ‘A Man Of His Appalling Posture’ (first time since 2005).
I can’t put into words what it means to have seen The Vertigo of Bliss in full tonight. Tomorrow night, Infinity Land! Biffy Clyro are untouchable 🤯 pic.twitter.com/qRau8WzjEI
— Ben Rogers (@BenRogers223) October 21, 2024
The second half of the set saw Biffy break out some rarities for London fans, as well as some more frequently played hits.
‘Get Fucked Stud’ and ‘Now I’m Everyone’ from the ‘Puzzle’ album were played live for the first time since 2014 and 2009, respectively, while ‘Similarities’ tracks ‘The Rain’ and ‘A Tragic World Record’ hadn’t been in a Biffy setlist since 2018 and 2014.
Check out the full setlist below, as well as more footage from the night.
Biffy’s setlist in London was:
‘The Vertigo Of Bliss’
‘Bodies in Flight’ (First time live since 2014)
‘The Ideal Height’ (First time live since 2014)
‘With Aplomb’ (First time live since 2014)
‘A Day of…’ (First time live since 2013)
‘Liberate the Illiterate/A Mong Among Mingers’ (First time live since 2014)
‘Diary of Always’ (First time live since 2017)
‘Questions and Answers’
‘Eradicate the Doubt’ (First time live since 2014)
‘When the Faction’s Fractioned'(First time live since 2008)
‘Toys, Toys, Toys, Choke, Toys, Toys, Toys’ (First time live since 2017)
‘All the Way Down: Prologue Chapter 1’ (First time live since 2017)
‘A Man of His Appalling Posture'(First time live since 2005)
‘Now the Action Is on Fire!’ (First time live since 2014)
Part Two
‘The Captain’
‘Sounds Like Balloons’ (First time live since 2017)
‘The Champ’
‘A Tragic World Record’ (First time live since 2014)
‘Get Fucked Stud’ (First time live since 2014)
‘Opaque’
‘…And With the Scissorkick Is Victorious’ (First time live since 2014)
‘Instant History
‘In the Name of the Wee Man’ (First time live since 2018)
‘Now I’m Everyone’ (First time live since 2009)
‘Biblical’
‘The Rain’ (Simon solo acoustic; first time live since 2018)
‘Mountains’
Biffy Clyro’s latest studio album is 2021’s ‘The Myth Of The Happily Ever After’, their ninth LP. When they announced the Glasgow and London residencies in March, the members also teased that “Biffy X” [album 10] would follow.
Speaking to NME around the time of the 2021 record, frontman Neil explained: “There are some songs where I’m singing about forgiveness, some are about hope for the future, and on others I’m being a total nihilist and a misanthrope – thinking, ‘We’re the bacteria eating up the world’.
“I wasn’t afraid of that. No one can process the impact that the last year has had on us mentally, physically and on our behaviours. It’ll be another five or 10 years before we realise that.”
Find the remaining residency shows below, and find any remaining tickets here.
Biffy Clyro’s remaining ‘A Celebration Of Beginnings’ tour dates are:
OCTOBER
22 – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London (‘Infinity Land’)
24 – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow (‘Blackened Sky’)
25 – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow (‘Vertigo Of Bliss’)
26 – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow (‘Infinity Land’)
In more recent Biffy news, last week it was confirmed that the group would be reissuing their first three LPs on limited edition vinyl.
Biffy Clyro played their first live show together since 2022 this summer when they headlined The Piece Hall in Halifax. Shortly afterwards, they topped the bill at Victorious Festival 2024 in Portsmouth. They are currently scheduled to appear at Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Hurricane Festival and Southside Festival in Germany next summer.
In recent years, Neil has been busy with his long-mooted grindcore side-project Empire State Bastard with Oceansize‘s Mike Vennart, Slayer‘s Dave Lombardo and Bitch Falcon‘s Naomi Macleod – releasing debut album ‘Rivers Of Heresy’ last year.