#BiffyBarras

They played 3 sold out nights at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow,  playing through all 6 of their studio albums plus b-sides culminating in over 6 hours of stage time and 86 songs.

The hashtag above was used as a marketing tool to promote the anniversary concerts for Biffy Clyro at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow.

Biffy Clyro are a rock trio from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire consisting of Simon Neil, Ben Johnston and James Johnston.

On the 9th of August 2014, Biffy released a picture on social media which combined the puzzle man from their 4th album and the background colours of their first album. This started cause mayhem on social media with fans trying to work out what the band were planning.

Blackened Sky + Puzzle

The next day on the 10th August, the band released another image which once again combined images of their album covers (vertigo of bliss and only revolutions). Fans were once again trying to work out what they were planning. Ideas included greatest hits albums, tours and even combined vinyl releases of the albums.

Vertigo of Bliss + Only Revolutions

Once again on the 11th August the band released a third photo combining their 3rd album and their latest album which added to the confusion already. The band had now released 3 photos with sequential album combined (1+4, 2+5 & 3+6). 

Infinity Land + Opposites

After a week of uncertainty and obscure combining of album covers Biffy finally made an announcement on the 12th August. They were to play 3 dates at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow to celebrate the "2nd chapter of da biff". This would result in them playing 2 albums per night and b-sides as shown below in the image;

This was not the first time they had done a residency to celebrate their works. In 2005 they played 3 nights at King Tuts in Glasgow to celebrate their first three albums playing them in full over the 3  nights.

Also in the announcement it says that the band wanted the audience to pick the songs they played from their back catalogue. This was done by sending out an e-mail to everybody who purchased tickets to the show. Each attendee was allowed to pick 5 songs of their choice from the 2 albums relevant to the night and the ones with the most votes would make up the setlist from that night. This was another way to market their gigs as it allowed the fans to inter act with the band and choose which songs they wanted to here.

The band put the majority tickets on presale to 'Team Biffy' fanclub members first so that they had first choice of tickets. This was another way of marketing the gig as they sent out presale codes via e-mail to the members which had to be used to purchase the tickets. This was also done to help lower the risk of ticket touters gaining access to the tickets.

The Iconic Barrowland Ballroom Sign

Over the next 4 months fans stated to get more interactive with the band and each other with social media going wild with fans trying to work out what the setlist would be each night. The  #biffybarras stared to appear more and more and was the main post used when talking about the band.

When December arrived the Barrowlands was completely taken over by Biffy. The event was a huge success and was fully appreciated by the fans.

Here are some photos from the event:

Simon Neil Stage Diving

After the event fans kept on using #biffybarras to share their experiences with each other and with the band. Sharing photos, videos and favourite moments.

This shows how a hashtag on social media can  help a band market and promote their concerts to their fans and let the fans interact with each other and the band themselves.


http://tumblr.biffyclyro.com/ - Click to see more photos from the 3-day event.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=biffy+barrowlands - YouTube Link to Videos