Perth Festival

The View

Perth Concert Hall

Lorraine Wilson

four stars

IT IS a testament to the eclectic programming of Perth Festival that in the space of 24 hours, the auditorium went from witnessing what is generally referred to as dad dancing at Jools Holland’s orchestra, to being doused in lager as the half-full plastic glasses flew when The View appeared.

This was the final night of the band’s tenth anniversary tour. There are two surprising things about that. Most of the band are yet to see their 30th birthdays, and it seemed for a good few of those years that the band would implode through shenanigans that have made them a favourite/target of red tops.

Rather than cause them to crumble, however, it seems that surviving the nonsense has made them a stronger unit. That, coupled with the fact that they have five albums to draw on, means tonight’s no-filler set takes off like a rocket and doesn’t land until the end.

Instead of keeping early hits like Superstar Tradesman and Same Jeans in the back pocket for encores, they appear within the first 15 minutes. In fact, the first album Hats Off to the Buskers is given prominence during the set, to the obvious delight of a crowd who could have been as easily swaying, bouncing, and mounting shoulders in front of a festival stage. Falconer is in great voice, and with a run of gigs behind them the whole unit seems match fit rather than tour weary.

There’s a lot of what-ifs with The View. They never repeated the success of Hats Off but would that have happened if the temptations of the lifestyle hadn’t got in the way? Bands all have their own trajectories and if Saturday night is an indication of things to come, The View have pulled turned it round into forward thrust again. Here's to the next decade.