A Rocking Sermon
It may be a Saturday evening and Download may not be the stereotypical church but strangely there's a religious vibe whirling around the Dimebag Darrell tent as the anticipation grows for a band earmarked as the big thing of 2007. With chants of "Mon the Biffy" ringing out a good 15 minutes before the band are due on threatening to become the rock fans equivalent of "Amen", you just know you are about to witness something great. Well, at least you pray you will.
With half the crowd revelling in smugness that the rest of the country are finally waking up to the wonder of a band they'd discovered years ago and the rest crammed in the tent, basking in expectation and excitement, it was to little surprise that Biffy Clyro are welcomed as heroes for their Download set. Stripped naked to his waist, front man Simon Neil makes for an unlikely saviour with a mass of wildly uncontrollable hair and piercing mad eyes that unnerve and threaten to rip you by the throat in order to convert you to the ways of Biffy as the trio launch manically into '57', appeasing the lifelong congregation before going onto showcase recent album 'Puzzle'.
A great fucking album according to Neil, 'Puzzle' paves the way for a spectacular set that includes the sing along stomp of 'Whose Got A Match?' and the brilliantly tongue in cheek 'Get Fucked Stud' equipped with an extra helping of rocking ridicule. Recent hit 'Saturday Superhouse' insures that even the intrigued spectator is dancing along insanely before 'Whole Child Ago' reveals a mellower side to the prog-rock messiahs.
In the end though it was only ever going to be about one song and as twins Ben and James Johnston mesmerisingly begin the vocal harmonising of the introduction you can feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up only to be blown away as Neil delivers the fatal blow of passion drenched vocals that make 'Living Is A Problem Because Everybody Dies' such an anthemically infectious and moving track. As the harmonies soar and the crowd join in enthusiastically this is truly the closest you'll get to a religious experience all weekend and one that proved that this truly will be Biffy Clyro's year. Take your place at the front pew and prepare for one rocking sermon.