The Forum, London Review

There's an excitement in the air at The Forum. Since they burst on to the scene in 2005, The View have been on the receiving end of hype similar to that surrounding their notable predecessors The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys. It's the kind of riotous chants of "The View are on fire", and hooter-honking from clusters of sweaty, bare-chested boys you'd normally find at a football stadium, pervading tonight's show that give away their devoted fan base and ability to inspire mass adulation.

Only just past their teens, the band's debut album Hats Off to the Buskers, released at the beginning of the year, soared to number one in the charts, while "Wasted Little DJs" won Best Track at the NME Awards.Owing their success to Pete Doherty who, impressed by an early demo, invited the Dundee four-piece to support Babyshambles, from the moment they launch into the raucous "Comin' Down", they recall the carefree-spirited rock of their heroes The Libertines with youthful wild abandon.

Tonight the uplifting "Wasted Little DJs", delivered with energetic strumming from front man Falconer and thumping beats from their drummer Steve Morrison, comes early enough to satisfy the crowd and set the party atmosphere for the night. Their latest single, the jaunty "Skag Trendy", fuelled by blaring trombone, is sung by bassist Kieren Webster, the most sprightly of the band members as he motions the crowd to clap or runs on the spot.

Scottish banter from Falconer is lost on the crowd whose riotous chanting proves a useful filler for the band's clumsy instrument-swapping between songs. But Falconer shows his worth as a front man in "Face of the Radio", rousing such crowd participation that by the end he has them taking over the singing.

Their Britpop song, the youth-affirming "Same Jeans" receives huge cheers of recognition and gets the crowd jumping, but the live muddy sound loses the clean guitar of the single and the appeal of the lilting harmonica is missed. Again showcasing their influences, they play a speeded-up cover of Squeeze's "Up the Junction" before finishing on "Superstar Tradesman" with Falconer's trademark R-rolling, and they're off.

By Elisa Bray, THE INDEPENDANT, 24 April 2007