Parliament was rocked by Absolute Radio last night as the national radio station staged the first ever gig to be held at the House of Commons with Scottish trio Biffy Clyro.
Singer Simon Neil admitted he had some pre-show nerves, telling Breakfast Show DJ Christian O’Connell: “You get a bit more nervous when you know the Speaker of the House of Commons is watching. If you went to Catholic school it’s like doing a gig in the head nun’s office”.
The band have been performing for over 10 years but confessed that the Palace of Westminster was the most unusual place they have played to date.
Neil said: “It’s incredible, we’ll wake up tomorrow wondering if this really happened”.
The half-hour acoustic gig was a celebration of the news that 50% of Absolute Radio’s national listening is now digital which was the target set out in the Digital Britain report last year. Digital innovation is core to the station’s business and Absolute Radio continues to lead the radio industry. The station recorded 51.5% of the station’s national listening on a digital platform, compared to the industry average of just 21.1%. The event was held in a marquee on the Commons terrace overlooking the Thames.
Breakfast Show DJ Christian O’Connell said: “I’m not sure how we got in here to be honest. Everyone is on their best behaviour in front of the Speaker of the House! It’s one of the most surreal and most brilliant gigs I have ever been to.”
Asked by O’Connell how it feels to be cracking the British music charts, Neil said: “We’ve always enjoyed what we’ve done at whatever level. We’ve been confident enough to think if people don’t get it, that’s not our problem. That’s not us being arrogant, we’ve always enjoyed what we’ve done so it wouldn’t have worried us if people hadn’t cottoned on because we would have stuck it out. We firmly believe we are a good band”.
Talking about the response Biffy Clyro get in their home town of Kilmarnock he said “even now we go home and people say ‘are you still in that wee band?’ before joking ‘wait till we tell them about tonight!”.
The 30-year old singer also revealed that if he hadn’t been a musician he would have loved to be a footballer. He told Absolute Radio listeners: “I love football. We play an hour and half every night, they play an hour and a half every week and get paid £100,000!”
The band are now about to start a European Tour which will come to the UK in May but fans can hear tracks from their gig at the Houses of Commons on Geoff Lloyd’s Hometime Show from 7pm on Tuesday 19th January and watch video online at www.absoluteradio.co.uk
