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Editors and Biffy Clyro When i first got my hands on the new Editors record An End Has A Start, i was overly anxious to hear how the quartet would follow up their well-constructed Joy Division-tinged debut the Back Room. I was immediately struck by their maturation on the opening single "Smokers Outside the Hospital", particularly its use of piano in a way that surely encouraged Coldplay references but held true to the Editors aesthetic. The title track is a strong guitar-heavy track in the mold of "Munich". However after three or four listens i grew less enchanted with the album as a whole, particularly the second half which tends more towards the somber ballads. When i learned the band were playing the Fillmore i excitedly got tickets (having missed two of their three shows supporting the Back Room). But as the date neared, i again felt that ambivalence surfacing. V and i overcame some annoying ticket issues (ie, losing the ones that were mailed to us) and met up with Gary for a second show in as many nights. We passed the time during openers Biffy Clyro having drinks in the upstairs bar, wandering downstairs to the opening strains of "Bones". Frontman Tom Smith has grown more comfortable in his stage presence, lurching around with his guitar in a kind of contorted Ian Curtis-meets-Iggy Pop dance, with his twisted face bearing flashes of the mania of Killing Joke frontman Jaz Coleman. Despite his eccentricities, his enthusiasm is a welcome addition to the Editors music. The set alternated between the two albums, with Back Room singles "Bullets" and "Blood" flanking An End Has A Start's title track. Smith took to the piano (with no less gusto) for An End's "The Weight of the World", which is among my least favorite tracks on the new record. I wasn't too keen on it live either, and wondered if this marked the point in the set where the band would lose me. They followed this with the howling "Escape the Nest", another track on An End that doesn't hold my attention. Live however, the song was reasonably engaging. An as yet unreleased new song came next, another loud upbeat number with enough hooks and Smith gesticulations to succeed. What really convinced me that i may have underestimated the record was "When Anger Shows", with its resonant piano-laden chorus and Chris Urbanowicz's characteristic screaming staccato guitar. It positively beamed live, particularly the breakdown jam towards the end. "The Racing Rats" also improved upon my previous judgement. The main set concluded with a trio of old favorites: "Fall", "Munich" (begun with a Frank Sinatra-like a cappella rendition of the first verse), and the wistful "Open Your Arms". The band returned for a three song encore, consisting of "Spiders", a requisite performance of recent single "Smokers Outside the Hospital", and a frenetic rendition of "Fingers in the Factories". I apologize boys ... your future is as bright as ever.
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