BIFFY CLYRO

Track the evolution of our award-winners through five of their most important and transformative gigs, as remembered by frontman Simon Neil

- By WILL RICHARDS

The old adage is true of Biffy Clyro more than most artists: you’ve really got to see it live to get it.

From sweaty basement shows where they made their name and grafted hard, to sold-out arenas and Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage, the band’s rise to becoming one of the UK’s biggest and best has been built on the foundations of their superb live show.

As we crown them the winners of The Live Act Award, supported by VYRA, at the ZYN Rolling Stone UK Awards 2025, frontman Simon Neil tracks their evolution as a live band via five particularly important, memorable and transformative gigs in their journey.

10 July 1999: T Break Stage, T in the Park

We'd won a competition from playing [Glasgow venue] King Tut’s, where judges would judge whether you were any good or not and invite you to play T in the Park. We knew that Roger Trust, A&R at Beggars Banquet, was there. It was the worst gig ever! On the first beat of the first song, Ben’s bass drum pedal broke, so we didn’t have the kick drum for the first song and a half. I decided to use a new guitar that wasn’t a Stratocaster and managed to split all my fingers. The blood coming out of them was sticking in the strings, so the strings weren't resonating.

We came offstage thinking we'd blown our opportunity to become a real band. Then Roger came straight backstage and said, “The way you guys coped with that, with everything going wrong, was amazing. I want to sign you.” It’s a little lesson for anyone out there: sometimes you can think you're having the worst time in the world, and actually that was the day where we became an actual band making records.