The View
Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
15/11/2010

“The View! The View! The View are on fire!” The Dundee bunch are not due on stage for ages but already the crowd are getting rowdy in anticipation with their trademark chant tonight. It may seem bizarre to proclaim a band “on fire”, when like many of the guitar bands that found success in the mid 00s, The View seemingly disappeared after their follow up. However, poor album sales do not reflect on the band’s live popularity as is evident tonight.

Opening with the riotous ska-punk anthem ‘Wasteland’, the crowd erupts into a frenzy of dancing and beer throwing as The View fire through a set of the ramshackle, Libertines-style indie pop they are best known for with their usual rag-time, music hall twist. Despite The View’s second album, ‘Which Bitch?’ lacking the hit-singles of their debut, it was a courageous move, showing a great deal of progression in both style and songwriting. Tonight lacks the moments of subtlety and invention they have proved they are capable of and instead play on the audience’s expectations of playing songs to jump about and sing-a-long to and they do so with bundles of energy including storming performances of ‘Superstar Tradesman’, ‘Shock Horror’ and The Clash inspired ‘Realisation’.
The new songs on display – one in particular recalls The Jam – are all terrace style anthems with big choruses and very good they are too. But by the end of the night the fire has been extinguished abruptly. A fight breaks out amongst the audience and before we know it, The View have taken an early exit and we are being ushered out of the venue before hits like ‘Same Jeans’ and ‘The Don’ have even been aired -  a moronic minority, tarnishing a rather enjoyable set.
Kirk Burton