The View // The Waterfront, 04.12.12
"The View, The View, The View are on fire. Now where are those fire extinguishers?" - Steve reviews The View at The Waterfront
On a freezing cold December evening in Norwich beside the river Wensum with the mist laying heavy on the water, it was really quite surprising to say the least to walk into a very quiet Waterfront venue with only around two hundred or so diehard fans at the most in attendance as the lights went down and the headliners entered onto the stage.
Although it soon felt like a lot more as the evening got into full swing, but where was everyone?
As always The View came out fighting. They are certainly a band that likes to please and they never seem to disappoint based on my previous experiences. This was my fifth time of seeing them since their appearance on the NME tour at the UEA back in 2007.
View gigs in the past have been something of a frenzied hedonistic surge of activity, with plenty of alcohol in attendance both on stage and in the audience. But tonight appears to be something of a drier more sober event and be more about the music? Not wishing to take anything away from them in anyway at all as they appear to be becoming even slicker at plying their craft.
They are like a fine camembert cheese. They really have ripened with age as they just continue to get better and better.
Of course there are still some mental moments during the set, particularly when they burst into ‘Same Jeans’, ‘Hold On Now’ and ‘ Superstar Tradesman’, we are for a while taken back to the normal chaos of a View gig.
For a band that is still so young they have achieved so much. They have such an extremely healthy musical back catalogue with four albums delivered in just five years and they must surely be one of the hardest working bands around as they always appear to be on the road touring around the country?
They have become a thoroughly productive and prolific outfit in the process.
Their song writing skills are well honed and display a great deal of maturity, for me no song better epitomises this than ‘The Clock’, taken for the current album ‘Cheeky For A Reason’.
When you can leave such great songs as ‘5Rebecca’s’ out of your set list, it must give you some real confidence and swagger in your art and a real self-belief that you are getting somewhere in your career?
These streets are made for The View; it’s been such a big thrill to see them again. They may not be that trendy with the masses right now for some strange reason? But they are sounding better than ever, remaining something of a cult band in the process to those in the know. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink!
Next time they check into our fine city, just make sure that you check them out. I would hate for you to miss out once again.
Tonight has left the hard core followers feeling fantastic once again, as they have been as entertaining and consistent as ever.
Hopefully they will have felt the love in the room from a very enthusiastic and appreciative audience?
As the band depart from the Waterfront stage and we embark back into the freezing cold air once again, fresh from seeing these superstar tradesmen, we have at least we have been warmed by the fire. Yet rather amazingly they remain both underrated and understated.
It was a typical time for me, how was it for you?
The View, The View, The View are on fire. Now where are those fire extinguishers?
Steve Plunkett
