LIVE REPORT: The View @Soul Kitchen- Luxembourg,Sept 29

It's 1:37 am here in Luxembourg City. Needless to say I'm feeling knackered after two days following the band on tour. So imagine actually being in the band. Yes, it does take an extra something to be in The View (and I mean not only a top-quality liver). So tonight was their last night on their European tour. After two days in Paris- including a black eye for Kyle and a post-Pigalle pub crawl hangover for all of them, the band headed to Luxembourg. I expected the gig to be memorable. But surely not that memorable. These lads sure know how to give a good time to their fans.

As we were waiting for the venue to open, a long queue had started to spread along the street. Actually not for The View but for a band called FUN. I do understand why they don't get any airplay in France because from what I've heard, they're pretty uninteresting.
As the band arrived around 9:15, Kyle was already properly drunk. And in his socks. The rest of the band seemed to really enjoy being there and some teenage girls who didn't get tickets for FUN next door had ended in Soul Kitchen, quite not knowing what the concert would be like. Easy to see by the look in their eyes an hour or so later that it had been a quick matter of Veni Vidi Vici for the Dundonian lads.

Starting with Underneath The Lights, the band directly set things right, proving to those who still doubted their inherent capacity to put a crowd on fire from the first song that they are wrong. The setlist was the same as in Paris but the crowd was a lot quieter- though the venue was totally packed. People were there to enjoy a few pints and cigarettes (yes, you can still get very cheap booze and smoke in bars or venues in Luxembourg) and good music. Kyle, whose voice seemed to suffer as the result of shitty weather, long touring and rock n' roll lifestyle, didn't seem to care and moved on to Grace as if he was putting the concert of his lifetime. And sure he was. Pete was acting as the typical guitar hero, Steve was banging on his drums as if it was T In The Park and Kieren was making sure the guys were playing a great show. From Wasted Little DJs to Tragic Magic and AB and Bunker, old and new songs were equally well received. Kieren took to the lead vocals for the usual punk Skag Trendy and the brand new Hole In The Bed, which actually got the crowd  dancing. As the front rows still hoped for Tacky Tatoo to be played, it became obvious that it was better for Kyle to spare his voice and so the band decided to play a reggae version of Happy. Yes, you're reading it correctly: reggae. And guess what, it was pretty good. We all felt like we were watching them in the rehearsal studio. At some point, Kyle asked for requests but people were pretty shy (though Blondie would have been fantastic) and so the band went on with an immense version of Cigarettes And Alcohol, Kyle standing on the amps, almost falling into the audience but clearly enjoying himself as much as we were.

 

 

By 10:30, as we headed to the next door bar where the band was taking some time off before the long road back to Calais and London, it seemed pretty clear that The View is the best band around these days. They'll be somewhere near you this winter, you lucky people living on the other side of the channel, so make sure you're not missing them.

You can find all the photos from that gig here .