Biffy Clyro - Zenith Munich

Live, Biffy Clyro are a force of nature. The three Scots had nothing left to prove to anyone on that front - but on this Thursday night at a well-filled Zenith in Munich they proved it anyway, with full force.

After a summer full of festival appearances, the band returned to the arenas. The show had a long backstory: first announced two years earlier, then postponed again and again. That made the anticipation all the greater when the night finally came.

Before - according to most of the T-shirts in the crowd - "Biffy Fucking Clyro" took the stage, the five Dutchmen of De Staat had the job of warming up the Zenith. What initially caused a few frowns and puzzled looks in the audience tipped over into pure energy by the ecstatic "Witch Doctor" at the latest. That was when the room first really reached operating temperature.

22 songs, six albums, zero filler

After a changeover of around 30 minutes, Simon Neil and his bandmates James and Ben Johnston took the stage - and delivered 22 songs from six different albums. The big hits were there of course, such as "Black Chandelier", "Biblical" and "Mountains", sung at full volume by a remarkably word-perfect crowd.

At times the trio was joined by two violinists, a second guitarist and a keyboard player. That gave the songs incredible power. Simon Neil hardly needed any big speeches - the music spoke for itself. The main set ended with a powerful "The Captain".

Thank you very much, we are Biffy Fucking Clyro.

The encores kicked off with "Different People" - perhaps one of the best openers ever. A fitting finale came with the "Ohhhh Ohhhh" of "Many of Horror", belted out by thousands of voices. Munich was sent home with a short, wild farewell.

Almost two hours full of energy, melancholy, euphoria and power - plus a sound and a light show that left nothing to be desired. A crowd in the best of moods gratefully celebrated every second of it.

Photos of the night