Gigs

Gig Review: Biffy Clyro + YCNI:M + Frank Turner

Venue: The Junction, Cambridge
Date: 24 May 2007

Oh my, the Junction is heaving tonight. It’s a sell out. The word is that tonight’s headline act are about to hit the big-time and the crowd’s barely-concealed excitement is palpable.

First up is Frank Turner, the ex-Million Dead lead singer, sporting a mischievous grin. He’s greeted by a barrage of noise and immediately buoyed he’s on the attack. Some chancer wants his headwear. “You want my hat? Let’s just stop and think about this. What are the chances of me giving you my hat?”, he toys before launching into tonight’s one-man performance of vitriolic folk rock.

All the way through he’s calling the shots, shouting out the numbers and testing us for weaknesses. He warns us that we’re listening to folk music and the crowd all cheer in mock approval. Most memorable and best received song is Thatcher Fucked The Kids and it’s sung in a roaring voice of clarity. Last time I saw him he was with Million Dead and that voice blew me away then. Yes, he’s gone all political but he’s loud and brash and a perfect wake-up call for what’s to follow.

Yourcodenameis:milo storm on in a blaze of white noise and blinding spotlights. The lead vocalist, in his white emo specs, with his fists gripping the mic behind a mass of knotted hair, proceeds to belt out razorblades. You wouldn’t know it to look at them but these boys properly rock.

Their current album They Came From The Sun was on show and this newly-found aggression which dominates it comes through in spades. Pounding drums and screeching riffs, particularly in Translate and Rapt. Dept, meet head-on with driving rhythm, fantastically emphasised by the metronomic head-banging of their bass-man.

There are few pauses for breath but one memorable gap in the show is when the crowd roar the onstage arrival of Freddie Mercury. And he looks magnificent in tiny plastic form. Thrust aloft in a manic display of affection before being introduced to the mic, the mini-Freddie belts out a medley of Queen numbers in a tinny voice inspiring rhythmic clapping and waving from all those present. And then it’s over, and we all have to breathe in as the riot commences again. Awesome stuff.

I’ve been lucky enough to catch one of the hardest-working live bands ever, Biffy Clyro, on several occasions in festivals across the country but have never witnessed them in the confines of a small venue. Knowing this could be my last chance before the general public discover them I’m expectant of something special before their upcoming, bound-to-be-huge, Wembley tour supporting Muse with My Chemical Romance.

And then forward they step out of the darkness. First thing I spot is the non-appearance of lead singer Simon’s favourite white suit. Second, is the amount of hair on display. This should have been billed ‘The Battle of the Beards’. It seems Ben has shaved his head and given it to his brother James for use as a facial accoutrement.

Then, we’re off. Simon is a whirling dervish, thrashing his guitar up and then manically down. Surely the strings on his guitar will break, if not melt, through the frantic clawing of his hands. The songs are all there, from Blackened Sky with its haunting ferocity, through the stop-start staccato brilliance of Glitter And Trauma to the pacy My Recovery Injection. The ones I don’t recognise must be from the forthcoming and well-advertised new album Puzzle. These seem subtler, more melancholic, and yet still honest in delivery.

These boys really do show passion in performance. I have absolutely no doubt that they give everything on stage and this is why they are currently tipped for the big-time. Their music has the dark intensity of Nirvana, the blasting rock drive of Muse, and the technical-intricacy and complexity of a Led Zeppelin masterpiece, all married with the commitment of those who feel their lives depend on this, this wave upon wave of sonic heaven.

Band Links = Biffy Clyro / yourcodenameismilo / Frank Turner

Tags: biffy clyro, cambridge, clyro, flow, frank turner, freddie mercury, indigo, junction, led zeppelin, live, million dead, muse, yourcodenameis:milo

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