Concert Review - Biffy Clyro - Auckland - 15th April 2026
Presented by Live Nation
Photo courtesy 14th Floor Records
Review By: Faith Hamblyn
Artist/Band: Biffy Clyro
Image Credits to: Leonie Mooreland
Venue/City: Auckland Town Hall, Auckland, New Zealand
Date of Event: Wednesday 15th April 2026Auckland indie-rock quartet Coast Arcade opened for Biffy Clyro at Auckland's Town Hall tonight with thumping guitar-based rock. They started with nostalgic ‘90s shoegaze, singing about longing for lost summers. With three guitarists and a stompy drummer, they have a dense sound, and there was a bit of feedback in the first track, Kids, to put a sting in its tail.
Acetone had riffs for the band to headbang to, go back-to-back with the lead guitarist and fire into the crowd with their guitar guns. It was pretty boss how singer Bella Bavin was able to effortlessly tune her guitar while at the same time talking about how her drummer is a massive Biffy Clyro fan. They were bathed in red light and dry ice for their cover of Velvet Revolver’s Slither, with Bella instead of Scott Weiland and his doomed heroin chic – less tortured, but with enough power to make the walls shake.
Coast Arcade setlist
Kids
Acetone
Greener
Week
Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
City Limits
Baited
After a break, with atmospheric cinematic music and organ music threatening to turn into The Stranglers’ Golden Brown, Biffy Clyro took their place under the Town Hall’s giant pipe organ. Usually just three Scotsmen, tonight they numbered five with keyboards and an added guitarist. A crowd entailing punks, bearded lads and a guy I spotted wearing a T-shirt of fellow-Scots Mogwai packed the Town Hall for Biffy Clyro’s Futique tour.
Opening track A Little Love from Futique is indie pop-rock, like Radiohead in a super-optimistic mood. The drums and pulsing red-on-red lights were like an anthemic heartbeat. Simon Neil was shirtless and kilted – oh, behave – and the crowd sang and whistled.
Hunting Season sneers like a punk Blur, wailing about opening fire on passersby. With the Scottish accent, it brings Sick Boy from Trainspotting to mind, with a BB gun trained on a local skinhead. Bright white stage lights flashed like paparazzi machine-gun fire.
That Golden Rule from Only Revolutions evokes early Manic Street Preachers with its earnest shouting and wall-of-noise guitars. Mirrored riffs create tension, like a Bond-movie action scene, and the stage was, of course, flashing bright golden warm lights. The crowd clapped along in accompaniment, and it crescendoed Bond-style, like a spy brandishing a golden gun. Biffy Clyro span a number of sub-genres, from crunchy post-grunge to power pop. But they are at their most impressive when they veer towards prog, showing off their musical bag of tricks with immaculately synchronised changes in time signature. Simon addressed the absence of James Johnston, who has taken a break from touring to deal with some personal issues. He was ably replaced on bass by the impressive Naomi MacLeod.
Who’s Got A Match? from Puzzle has a QOTSA drum-and-bass riff with marching chorus to yell along to. Tonight the crowd sang along with the whole thing, and they sounded like Fallout Boy en masse. They kicked emo into full-blown rock.
Space, from A Celebration Of Endings was a slow dance, before Wolves of Winter and Tiny Indoor Fireworks picked the pace up again, tight and crashing. It seemed everyone knew all the words to every song, but my album of choice is Opposites, and I was vindicated tonight.
Biblical from Opposites, sung by the band and the audience, earned an, ‘Auckland, you fucking rock!’ Simon, spotlit on a dark stage, started Different People, which was complex and hyper-charged with the crowd, and that fucking rocked. The crowd clapped along with A Hunger in Your Haunt and co-sang Black Chandelier. Another big rock anthem, Mountains, had guys on each other’s shoulders, waving their shirts like flags.
After a short break, Machines from Puzzle had Simon spotlit with an acoustic guitar and audience accompaniment, which was surprisingly bluesy. The Captain kicked the jams back out, like a sea shanty adopted by football hooligans.
Bubbles from Only Revolutions had the packed Town Hall collectively pogoing with the band. The set ended with a sweet singalong of Many of Horror, with pretty warm lights. ‘Let’s blow the fucking roof off,’ invited Simon, but if it had survived this far, it was fairly bulletproof.
Setlist
A Little Love
Hunting Season
That Golden Rule
Who's Got a Match?
Shot One
Space
Wolves of Winter
Tiny Indoor Fireworks
Goodbye
Friendshipping
Biblical
Different People
A Hunger in Your Haunt
Black Chandelier
Two People in Love
Mountains
Encore
Machines
The Captain
Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies
Bubbles
Many of Horror
Review in conjunction with Red Raven News
Look back for images coming soon by Leoni Mooreland of Biffy Clyro’s show last night in Auckland
Biffy Clyro The Futique NZ Tour 2026