Rock n' Roll Comes To Town!

"It twas the day the Rock n' Roll Circus came to invade our Town! With as many as 30 of an entourage: depending on who you talk to and tales of how the raggle-taggle mini-army sauntered aimlessly off the ferry, strumming guitars, causing tailbacks, traffic jams and general chaos at the Ferry Terminal. They marched on through Stornoway town centre on their way to Pointers, whilst all the while youngsters from our fair community looked up in awe, asking the question, 'Is that The View?'

Teams of Music Industry spin doctors have been building up the barely out of school Dundee band The View, with the usual super-hype for several months now. Not that it's undeserved mind, their first single, 'Wasted Little DJs' went to number 15 in the charts and they've been courted by a number of big festivals over the summer including T in the Park, Reading and Leeds, Big Day Out, Belladrum and of course LooPaLLu on the Saturday before they ventured across the Minch.

Each appearance being jam packed with their ever growing rabid fan base. Some of whom I'm sure had been following the band around on their Highlands tour and came over to Stornoway along with reporters and photographers from the Times and a video crew/guy.

So, as it happened, this whole hoopla of people comes over on the lunchtime ferry, the band drops its gear off in Pointers, decides to go sightseeing before the show and takes a drive around the Westside to see the Callanish Stones and other sights of interest - working up a fair appetite in the process.

Unfortunately a close encounter with some free range, organically grown, local wild produce left their singer a tad unwell and disorientated - but the show must go on!

Kicking things off in fine and heavy as all heck fashion were 'Dragging The Lake' with some top new tunes and old faves, followed by 'The Law', another Dundee band touring with The View, who sounded like a cross between the Beatles, Small Faces and The Jam, sounding great and giving an excellent performance.

Then it was time for headliners, The View to spin their magic. They bounced and squawked and played on their punkyness. and I could see the basic elements of what all the fuss was about, but by this time their singer was too under the weather to give us a credible performance.

Hey, wait a minute, isn't that a bit like one of those stories you read about punk icons like The Stooges and The Sex Pistols and The Libertines? Maybe the wee lad was just trying to emulate his heroes, we'll probably never know!"