Review of The View at The Ironworks, Inverness 18/12/2011
When we think of The View our minds cast back to Highlander and the quote “it’s better to burn out than to fade away”. In our minds The View are not going to be the fade away types, but how did their second gig in a year at the Ironworks fare?
As we entered the venue someone was exiting, or should that be was being exited, the scene was set for a very excitable crowd.
Our first impressions of The Mirror Trap was “loud”. However, whilst retaining the volume throughout the set there was something very likeable about the Dundonian band. Gary Moore’s husky voice and the choruses helped draw similarities to Kasabian although the band retained a strong individual personality.
An overly enthusiastic fan shouted “Never mind The View, The Mirror Trap are on fire”, which, as they banged out the songs, you would find it hard to deny. “Once a King” ended the set on a particular high and concluded a particularly successful first gig in Inverness for the band.
Second on the bill was Carly Connor, no stranger to the area, having headlined a highland tour a few weeks ago. the Glaswegian, exiled in London, certainly contrasted more than complimented the acts that she was bookended by.
Carly has drawn comparison to Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and Tina Turner although possibly adding unfair pressure given her fledgling career. She has, however, a voice to wow, charming the audience more by conducting her own chorus of “The View is on Fire”.
And so onto The View. The winter tour acting as both a promotional tour for “Bread and Circuses”, the band’s third album, and a build up to their headline slot at the Aberdeen Hogmanay Festivities, Granite Rocks. Indeed, this tour has seen numerous additional dates.
The crowd were in buoyant form for the boys from Dundee as they sauntered on to the stage betraying the energy driven set that was to come. Starting with “Underneath the Lights” from their latest album , the hundred miles an hour guitar-laden tune with an addictiveness and familiarity that the crowd thrived on. It was somewhat of a surprise that “Same Jeans” came next, although it was more surprising that the night before they had not played it at all.
“Is that no what you came for?” asked the guitarist, and despite the song being played with and responded to, with all the gusto of an encore, it was clear that the fans drawn together were there for far more than the one hit.
The newest material saw a pushing of boundaries/genres, with ‘Afield Row’ following the fad of 60’s psychedelia, with The View’s lyrical stamp. Indeed it was interesting to note the almost apologetic nature in which new material was introduced to the audience. Now maybe the band were getting a different perspective from the stage, but from my position, the audience were lapping the tunes up.
The band finished disappointingly but predictably without an encore, they were off to get some, well deserved, “bevvies”.
The Ironworks stood proud on the night, hosting a near sell out crowd of loyal fans, whose enthusiasm was not dampened by it being a cold miserable Sunday night.
From beginning to end their was no sign of the band fading away – indeed, there is more to indicate an evolution of sound from the newest of their material, which bodes well for the future.
Review by Chris Lemon
Editing by Thomas Bisset and Frank Finlayson
Photographs by Thomas Bisset Photography