IT’S EXCITING just how big Biffy Clyro have become. Five years on from their first Bournemouth gig, the Scottish rockers tonight play to a sold-out crowd at Southampton’s Guildhall on the debut date of their latest UK tour.

The show, which was meant to coincide with the release of the trio’s highly anticipated fifth album Only Revolutions, has been brought forward by three weeks, to accommodate Biffy’s recently announced November dates supporting Muse on their European tour.

Alongside seven songs from the forthcoming album, the set list draws heavily on their 2007 mainstream breakthrough Puzzle, from which they play no less than 11 songs.

A furious performance of opener That Golden Rule segues into rousing sing-alongs during Living Is a Problem Because Everything Dies, followed by chants of ‘mon the Biff’ from the adulating audience.

“It’s great to be back”, says frontman Simon Neil, as the three-piece launch into the sprightly new anthem Bubbles, which is sure to become a fan favourite.

Backed by a hugely impressive light show, the band roll out three classic Biffy songs from their 2002 debut Blackened Sky, and while Kill the Old, Torture Their Young and Hero Management leave some fans a bit bewildered, the spine-tingling Justboy is a highlight.

Saturday Superhouse, Glitter and Trauma and new single The Captain are enthusiastically received, but it’s the encore closer, last year’s smash hit top five single Mountains, which draws the biggest response.

Puzzle deservedly got them into the big-time; hopefully Only Revolutions can take them even further.