The View completed a meteoric rise from dingy pubs to rock stardom with a sell-out gig at Dundee’s Caird Hall 15 years ago.
Lead singer Kyle Falconer, guitarist Peter Reilly, bassist Kieren Webster and drummer Steve Morrison were the local boys made good.
Here was a band at the peak of its powers in April 2007.
Some hardcore fans slept outside the venue’s box office to be first in line for the £12.50 tickets and ensure they would be going to the homecoming performance.
The clamour for tickets to see the all-conquering band was unbelievable and an awful lot of people were left disappointed despite queuing for hours.
Pete Doherty gave the boys a support slot
The story of their break into the big time has been well documented in the past.
Lead singer Kyle Falconer heard Pete Doherty was doing a gig with his band Babyshambles at Fat Sam’s in late 2005 and knocked on his tour bus door.
Doherty – who was battling drug issues at the time – listened to the CD before offering the Dryburgh foursome a support slot.
The band signed with 1965 Records and hit the road to begin an exhausting itinerary which saw them play scores of gigs including Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Dundee in 2006.
Debut album Hats Off to the Buskers took the band to the top of the UK album chart in January 2007 and introduced a nation to the concept of the Superstar Tradesman.
The success of that album was matched by their top three single Same Jeans, whose catchy chorus caught the imagination of the British public.
The album also caught the imagination of the Mercury Prize people, who shortlisted them for what is one of the most prestigious music awards around.
The View were now one of the most talked about bands in Britain.
The evening of entertainment at the sell-out Caird Hall concert in April 2007 was a celebration of all things Dundee, with four local bands supporting.
Almost every member of the audience claimed to be related in one way or another to the View quartet or to members of the star attraction’s support bands.
Teenagers Rush Hour Soul got the evening started before Monifieth’s The Getdowns and local lads Luva Anna fired the 2,200-capacity crowd up.
Main support came from The Law, whose lead singer Stuart Purvey worked the crowd as the band ripped through their tight and well-honed set.
The View wandered on stage at 9pm to a deafening roar with the band kick-starting the party with Comin’ Down.
The Dryburgh foursome wasted little time in racking up the tracks from their debut album including Gran’s For Tea, Wasteland, The Don and Claudia.
A rendition of Up The Junction by The Squeeze harked back to their cover-band days after getting together to form a band while pupils at St John’s High School.
An acoustic Face For The Radio sparked the biggest singalong and the boys declined to take a break and went on to blitz through their biggest hits.
“We don’t do encores, no matter what our tour manager says,” said Kieren.
“So we’ve got a couple more tunes for you, then we’re off.”
Same Jeans and Superstar Tradesman were dedicated to familiar faces in the crowd and sparked a frenzy of activity as the audience got to its feet in unison to dance along with the anthemic Wasted Little DJs, the song which started their amazing rise to the top in August 2006 and ended the night in fine style.
The band rounded off their set with their trademark chant “The View Are On Fire” reverberating around the old venue.
After thousands filtered out of the Caird Hall, Dundee’s pubs and clubs were singing to the sounds of The View and, judging by the Cheshire cat grins of Kieren and Kyle at their Marquee after-show party, the boys had done good and Dundee knew it.
Which Bitch was the difficult second album
Top-class performances at Glastonbury and T in the Park saw their star rise even further and their year culminated with an NME Award for best single for debut Wasted Little DJs.
Add to that tours with Primal Scream, Babyshambles, and countless TV and radio appearances, plus rubbing shoulders with the likes of Doherty, Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher and it was an absolutely unprecedented time for the Dundee band.
A litter of secret gigs and some not-so secret in their hometown along with regular cameos at the Doghouse meant there were plenty of opportunities for the band’s Dundee followers to share in the joy, fun and chaos surrounding their success.
Kyle, Kieren, Steve and Pete left a trail of rock and roll madness all over the UK before decamping to rural Wales in the summer of 2008 with producer Owen Morris.
They set to work on their second album, Which Bitch, which was an eventful time all round, with Kyle nearly drowning after an alcohol-induced impromptu swim.
The band embarked on a UK tour to preview the new material from the upcoming album which included a homecoming gig at Fat Sam’s in November 2008.
Which Bitch made the album chart Top 10 after being released in February 2009 and the band returned to the Caird Hall to perform another sell-out show.
The opening songs in the packet set caused pandemonium in the mosh pit before Kyle took exception to the actions of the venue’s bouncers during Same Jeans.
Having thrown his microphone into the crowd to allow them to sing the chorus the security men had almost immediately retrieved it.
As the song died out, Kyle took a strop and told everyone he was going on strike until the crowd were allowed to sing.
Fortunately, calmer heads prevailed and the band was able to make it to the end of their biggest hit at the second attempt.
The View went back to writing and recording tracks for third album Bread & Circuses but decided to perform a Christmas concert at the Caird Hall in December 2009.
The atmosphere was electric with the usual chants before Kyle, Kieren, Pete and Steven walked on stage to a massive cheer, with Kieren shouting: “Merry Christmas Dundee.”
It may not have been a sell-out, but the screams of the 1,500 or so fans still made it probably the Caird Hall’s loudest ever Christmas party!
The View returned to perform at the Caird Hall in April 2011 and played tracks from third album Bread & Circuses before describing the gig as their best yet.
When Kyle made a plea with the audience, saying he was “desperate” for people to buy a copy of new record Bread & Circuses, it was probably a reflection on the fact it disappointingly dropped out of the charts after just one week in the Top 20.
The View were then dropped by Columbia and didn’t have a recording contract but demoed around 30 songs before the labels started knocking on the door again.
Fourth album Cheeky For A Reason was described by Kyle as “Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours done by the Clash” although there were mixed reviews.
The band performed at the Caird Hall in December 2012 to promote the album before returning to the studio to produce 2015’s Ropewalk which was a return to form.
The View took a break in 2017 but Kyle has insisted they will reform one day and hopefully that will include another all-conquering hometown gig.
It’s been too long boys!
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