Wasted Little DJs

The View
Koko, Camden, February 10

The View (not the TV show, as I had to tell literally everyone that I mentioned the gig to) last night at indie institution Koko. It's an old theater that's been revamped as a club/venue, so there are about four stories that look down on the stage, a pretty decent sized venue for a band that hasn't seen too much hype for its second album. We got in too late to get a space along the rails in the upper floors, so we headed downstairs during the unremarkable and sometimes outrightly bad openers. I didn't bother to remember their names since I really had no interest in listening again.

The crowd was completely chill until The View came on (in spite of an odd assortment of hipsters, old people, 14 year olds starting chants, and a group of women inexplicably sporting light up bunny ears), but when the band started playing they went insane. The unfortunate sort of drink-throwing, uncontrollable need for unnecessary crowd surfing kind of insane. It was great to see an audience really excited for a gig, but after about the sixteenth cup of beer was flung over the crowd, I found myself wishing they would be just a little bit less excited. Did explain why the floor in Koko always looks faintly sticky, even at the beginning of the night.

The View themselves put on a good show, playing a lot of the better known tracks from debut Hats Off to Buskers and mixing in songs from brand new album Which Bitch? I hadn't picked up the second record yet, but they were good enough that I'm planning on getting it. They kicked off the set with some classics like Wasteland (the crowd went nuts for the super-fast rendition), Five Rebeccas, Skag Trendy, and Wasted Little DJs, then broke in the middle with super short, harmonica tinged tune Typical Time, which segued into a short acoustic set. The end of the gig saw Superstar Tradesman and Same Jeans, then an acoustic encore of Oasis' Don't Look Back in Anger (confirming the frequent opinion that The View are Libs impostors--Pete and Carl performed the track at their latest reunion gig).

The View do have a little bit of Libs in them in that they can get a crowd going, and seem to have a fanbase with a high percentage of belligerent young guys. Their music also has the kind of underproduced, loose sound (live and recorded) that the Libs and their various coattail riders prefer.

As for Albion? Maybe a little bit in the atmosphere of the gig. People seemed to be having a genuinely good time, despite the fact that Koko is a relatively corporate venue. (A little too well organized, actual tickets, plastered with NME endorsements). The View seem to encourage this, from what I could understand of their banter. (Being from Dundee, their accents were virtually unintelligible). Lyrically, The View get into class a little bit with tracks like Superstar Tradesman and Posh Boys Can't Play (which was sadly omitted from the set), and the album title "Hats Off to Buskers" suggests something about value for the shambolic, itinerant lifestyle that this movement of bands admires. Not quite the height of Albionesque romanticism, but on the edges. And overwhelmingly influenced by the movement of bands that does revere Albion (Oasis, The Libs, a touch of contemporaries Arctic Monkeys in the snippets of modern nightlife spewed out in fast lyrics).

The verdict? Crazy but enthusiastic crowd, solid playing, a dash of Albion. Great to see a band I've been listening to since I downloaded an elusive live recording about two years ago of Posh Boys.

I'd say pictures are to come, but they didn't turn out especially well. Might toss the Oasis cover video up here if youtube cooperates.