When I was a 16 year old hot off my discovery of Arctic Monkeys, I was a bit naive in my belief in the NME and any band that they would get behind. I remember them hailing a band called The View as one of the next hot bands, and it came true as they went #1 in their native UK seemingly out of nowhere. Now, often with NME buzz bands there is natural backlash, the sort thing that can almost ironically stunt a bands growth after the quick fire promotion. This seemed to happen to the View who don’t seem to have anywhere near the same buzz as they did 6 years ago. The View were one of the last NME buzz bands that I ever really found a spot in my heart for (along with Palma Violts) and although I’m not as fond of them as I was 6 years ago, it was good to finally see them live at the Knitting Factory last night.
But that’s perfectly fine as they seem to got a solid thing going for them. From what I saw last night at the Knitting Factory, they have a solid set of songs and bands that seem to be loyal followers. I am not as familiar with the albums that came after the enjoyable debut Hats Off To The Buskers, but there were a bunch of songs that caught my attention and packed a punch.
After 6 years, I would be lying if I wasn’t there just to hear all those songs that I played way too much as a youngster. “Wasted Little DJ’s”, “Same Jeans”, and “Superstar Tradesman” were amazing to hear live, and brought back a flood of young memories of times when life was a lot simpler. It was really cool to finally hear those songs live.
The View never really hit the American market as well as they could have. I think that they’re a bit under-appreciated around these parts, but hey, if I’m able to watch them comfortably in a spot like the Knitting Factory, I’m not complaining.
Catch a gallery of picture from the show below.
[nggallery id=171]
Join the conversation