Dundee’s finest get ready to rock Bellahouston

Following hot on the heels of their blistering set at T in the Park (and their bizarre introduction by Gary: Tank Commander), the band have another open-air date for their fans – Glasgow’s Summer Sessions on August 29 at Bellahouston Park.

They’ll be supporting Paolo Nutini, the legend that is Grace Jones, Irish singer Soak and rising Glasgow three-piece Tuff Love.

To make you feel your age, The View are actually ten years old this year.

It’s been a decade since they burst out of Dundee, a rag-tag teenage mob of guitar-scorching rock’n’rollers, buoyed by a brace of instantly anthemic tunes and a huge, loyal following.

As singles like Wasted Little DJs and Superstar Tradesman stormed into the charts, followed by debut album Hats Off To The Buskers entering the charts at No.1 and nabbing a Mercury nomination, the fanbase’s jubilant battle-cry was heard up and down the country: “The View, The View, The View are on fire!”

The fans were as up-for-it as this famously hard-gigging, hard-partying four-piece.

“That time is a blur,” said bass player Kieren Webster, while lead singer Kyle Falconer added: “We didn’t even know what the A-list was. Someone would tell us we were on the Radio 1 A-list and we’d be like, ‘great… what does that mean?’”

Falconer, Webster, guitarist Pete Reilly and drummer Steve Morrison have just finished their fifth studio album, Ropewalk, with Albert Hammond Jr from The Strokes and Gus Oberg (engineer on The Strokes’ Angles LP).

It may seem like yesterday since these Dundee ‘delinquents’ stormed on to the scene, but the lads have been through their own private struggles and emerged intact, still talking and still rocking.

“I would say that this record has really taken us out of our comfort zone,” said Kyle. “It was a huge compliment having Albert and Gus produce the album and we’re really excited with the result.

“I think it’s our most inventive album yet. We really opened ourselves up to creative possibilities and, thankfully, the vision paid off. We can’t wait to get out there and play it live.”

Their next live date is Glasgow’s famous Bellahouston Park, where The Killers headlined last summer, and the guys are looking forward to it.

“We’ve never played there before but Glasgow’s always great,” said Kyle. “And we’ve never been on the same bill as Grace Jones, so that will be, erm, different...

“I’ve heard it’s a cracking venue and we can’t wait for it and then kicking off our UK tour not long after that in Aberdeen.”

It’s no secret the band have been through the mill over the last decade, with some booze or drug-fuelled destruction never far behind or far away. The band’s management released a statement saying the release of their latest album had been delayed until September 4 as a result of Kyle’s battles.

It was reported he had checked into the same Thai rehab centre where Libertines frontman and friend of Kyle’s, Pete Doherty, went to help fight addiction last year.

So through all their ups and downs how have they managed to stay together?

Kieren said: “We’ve been mates from school, so our friendships go right back to the beginning.”

Kyle added: “You’ll kind of get guys in bands who never grew up together but we grew up together, so … If we wanted to get rid of someone, it would have happened already.”

It seems life’s pretty good for the lads, with The Strokes’ Hammond Jr playing a key role in their new album.

“We had about 15 tunes ready to go, rehearsed up, and he didn’t want to do them. So he picked all the strange ones. I went; ‘Ah, you’re joking man!’ It was a bit weird, he was dead regimental as well, brilliant.

“They don’t drink a lot, so we weren’t drinking a lot. Normally we waste a lot of time in the studio, getting bevvied up, but we never did that this time!”

No boozing in the studio? Well hats of then to the busker men!

For Glasgow’s Summer Sessions tickets visit dfconcertsandevents.com/summersessions/tickets/ and for their UK tour tickets visit www.theviewareonfire.com