“Last night of the tour, best place to be!,” yells Kieren Webster, as The View made a triumphant return to their home city six years after their last Dundee show.
Monday saw the second of two pulsating gigs at the Caird Hall courtesy of the Dryburgh rockers.
A sellout show on Sunday was followed tonight with another huge crowd creating as big a noise as the old venue has ever seen.
Ahead of the show guitarist Pete Reilly described Sunday’s gig as “absolutely brilliant” and they blasted into action with searing versions of Glass Smash and an unbelievably rocking medley of Grace and Wasted Little DJs.
The View are on fire
Pete, Kieren and Kyle Falconer were joined on stage by long-time friend and touring keyboard player Darren Rennie and drummer Jay Sharrock and they had the audience bouncing from the first notes of track from earlier albums Hats Off To The Buskers, Which Bitch and Bread and Circuses.
Three songs in and the chant from the crowd was The View were, of course, on fire.
The set’s middle section saw the band unleash five new tunes from their latest album, Exorcism of Youth, released earlier this year.
New tunes usually equals an exodus to the bar but not for this audience, whose adoration of their local heroes continues 16 years after they first exploded onto the UK music scene.
There was no let up to the frenzy as they raced through the set, the audience danced and sang along to Neon Lights and The Wonder of it All The band were loving it, the banter flowed and Kieren dedicated Annfield Row to everybody who ever visited the legendary Clark’s Bakery.
The set ended with a brilliant semi acoustic, singalong rendition of Face For The Radio before the big guns were of course pulled out for the tumultuous run in, cue fervent moshing for Sunday, Same Jeans and Superstar Tradesman before Shock Horror brought a hot and sweaty end to the night.
There was a poignant moment as the band took their bow to The Pogues’ Christmas classic Fairytale of New York, the crowd joining in a passionate and impromptu singalong with the band’s late frontman Shane MacGowan.
A superb show and evidence, if it was needed, that the Dryburgh lads can still absolutely rock it. Here’s to the next 16 years!
