Gig review: Kaiser Chiefs/The View/Pigeon Detectives

Edinburgh Meadowbank Stadium, August 24 2007

I have to be honest that before I went to this gig, I had barely heard the Pigeon Detectives and was expecting them to be commercial indie-by-numbers. Well, they do sound fairly commercial and their sound owes a lot to the Libertines/Arctic Monkeys…but they do it with style. they harden this cynical heart very quickly and win the corwd over too. Songs like ‘Wait for Me’ and ‘I’m Not Sorry’ are used to work the crowd and I have to confess I was won over very quickly.

‘The View! the View! The View are on fire!” runs the chant even before the Pigeon Detectives come on. Er, not on tonight’s evidence they weren’t. Struggling to do more than produce a bit of smoke. Whilst it has become fashionable in bloggerland to slag The View (general attitude of people being successful that upsets the more snobby types), I really liked the album and reviewed it very positively here at the beginning of the year. ‘Wasted Little DJs’ and ‘Skag Trendy’ pick up the pace a bit, and closer ‘Superstar Tradesman’ is excellent, but so much of their set feels lazy and shambolic.

The Kaiser Chiefs rule. Three years ago in Edinburgh I saw them supporting the Ordinary Boys (long before Celebrity Big Brother etc..) and thought they really had something. A year later they opened the US part of Live8. They come on, tease the synth riff of ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less’ and the crowd goes nuts. There are no pyrotechnics, just solid songs and performance. Two albums in, the Kaisers have not only mastered the art of writing pop singalongs, but they can work a stadium gig just as well as their mates the Foo Fighters. To watch the hands wave in the air as they effortlessly tear through songs from their two albums -‘Angry Mob’ ‘Born to be a dancer’ ‘Modern Way’ and of course ‘I predict a riot’ and ‘Ruby.’ As the sky darkens, the twentyfirst century stadium gig equivalent of lighters in the air that is mobiles in the air add to the ambience of what is an amazing gig. As we progress out, the joy is infectious. Long may they make our hearts fly.

The View -‘Posh Boys.’ mp3 (Non-album track. Come on guys, let’s remind the people what you CAN do).

Kaiser Chiefs -‘Oh My God.’ mp3

Kaiser Chiefs -‘Born to Be A dancer.’ mp3

(Both from 2004 Drowned In Sound CD single of Oh My God).