Long-View - London Prince Charles Cinema - 10/11/04
3/5
By: Samantha Hall
It's a surreal experience, going to a gig in a cinema (anyone attend the Pistols at the Screen On The Green?). We don't know whether to get a pint or a tub of popcorn. So we get both.
Needless to say, upon Longview's return to the live-circuit, they grace us in the most unusual of settings that is the Prince Charles Cinema. Squeezed cosily in between the gay capital of London and China Town, you can imagine their average clientele. Well, not tonight. Hordes of twenty-something, middle-class suburbians fill the red velour seats of this intimate, arty hovel.
And the show tonight is good. Longview are tight and ambitious, controlling the minute stage with ease and confidence. Although endearingly still letting a few schoolboy flutters burst through, Longview are far from the rock star bravados one may expect from a band that have had a major label contract for over two years and just signed a deal with Columbia US.
Surprisingly, it is still their semi-hit 'Further' that the crowd revels amidst tonight.
And while 'epic' seems such a tarnished word nowadays - epic indie... one gives a complacent nod - Longview's earnest and, indeed, 'epic' chart-worthy songs, really shouldn't be dismissed as yesterday's stab. Comparing them, as their label unfortunately do to the likes of Mogwai and on the same epic scale as U2, is laughable. It's unfair. That just simply isn't the same band. This statement however is by no means belittling the creditable music that Longview do make. New track 'Coming Down' is as punchy, yearning and addictive as any of Morrissey's latest offerings.
Thus, with new work admirably more mature, rougher and - indeed - imaginative for their standards, there's still the nagging worry that it just may never enlighten; in a climate again populated with fragrance, angst and vitality, the quartet seem the safe option. We hold our breath for Longview.
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment