‘The View, The View, The View are on fire!’ shout hoards of fans as the Scottish indie-rockers take to the stage. And they are right – The View are hot tonight at The Borderline, putting on a roaring, energy-fuelled show.

To be honest, prior to this gig I was not fully au fait with The View’s back catalogue which is, in fact, pretty impressive – a ‘Seven Year Setlist’ to be precise. The band are able to play this repertoire with enthusiasm and vigour, much to my (and a completely jam-packed Borderline’s) enjoyment and admiration. The View make their entrance at a venue rammed with an eclectic mix of people – young and old, female and male, Scottish and non-Scottish. The Borderline is bursting with excitement and anticipation tonight.

The band look as young and innocent as they did seven years ago. All floppy fringed, youthful and bouncy, they give the impression of a group of young lads at band practice after school, and I can’t help but be reminded of Frodo Baggins upon seeing Kyle Falconer’s curly locks and dimpled cheeks. Nonetheless, when they start pounding those guitars and belting out lines such as ‘the one I loved the most turned into a junkie’, it soon becomes clear that they are a well-established rock band, who undoubtedly know what they are doing and are certainly not as innocent as they may seem.

The set starts with a lesser known song, ‘AB (We Need Treatment)’ from the 2012 ‘Cheeky for a Reason’ album, which is an unusual opener. However, they soon pull out the big hitting crowd-pleasers such as ‘Grace’ and ‘5 Rebeccas’. The latter coming complete with its own warning to the youth of today that “solvent abuse can kill”, which is all the more powerful when sung together by a 300-strong crowd. A few songs in, the ska-punk infused ditty ‘Wasteland’ gets the assorted throng of fans bouncing and skanking along, with fists raised and voices heard.

The stage dynamic changes for ‘Skag Trendy’, as frontman Kyle swaps six strings for four, and Kieran Webster takes the lead. Webster seems to relish the limelight, and is much more interactive with the crowd than his fellow band member. And, even more so than the rest of the set, this song is particularly reminiscent of The View’s rebellious indie predecessors The Libertines; though, with an incredible bass line, it succeeds as a unique classic in its own right.

After the buoyant, bouncing and brash hollers of the crowd that had accompanied the first half of the set, Falconer informs us that he is going to “slow things down a bit” with ‘The Clock’. This move doesn’t prove too popular with the more boisterous members of the crowd, but does go down well with the slightly less rowdy people standing further from the front. With a more poppy sound, it seems somewhat inspired by the reggae-tinted, new wave harmonies of The Police.

The “slowing it down” doesn’t last long and the multitude of fans soon resume their enthused, energetic states, as their best known hit, ‘Same Jeans’, is played. With this, each and every member crowd sing and sway along and an air of nostalgia fills the room.

The View keep the fire burning throughout the set. With a wide repertoire of indie punk-rock that seems to have influenced the likes of current popular bands, such as The Palma Violets, they do not disappoint their loyal assortment of fans, and even recruit a few new ones, like myself. They propel through tune after catchy tune with a fervour and flair that is admirable and pretty exciting to be a part of. I will most definitely be checking out their album of old and new material, ‘Seven Year Setlist’ when it comes out next week, and would highly recommend it, especially to anyone who does not yet own its four predecessors.

Mari Lane