New live review

[D C Riots Dave]

We just got this review for our gig last month at the Subway in Edinburgh on glasswerk.co.uk-

It’s reassuring in this day and age of teenage bands to know that you still can't teach your granny how to suck eggs - or in this case how to put on a good live rock show. Freeview offered a slick, highly enjoyable performance that rescued the audience from a night of bad set-ups and a group who can only be described as 'McFly does Rock' (yes that bad!).

Hailing from Glasgow and making a not-often-enough jaunt to the East coast, Freeview are a four piece Rock/Grunge outfit. It’s far too easy to immediately label them with a Pearl Jam clone label. Lead Singer Dave McCallion’s vocals draw a strong likeness to Vedder’s but with a harder edge to them.

From the moment they kicked off into 'Pass It On', it’s clear that these guys have been playing together for a long time now. The playing is confident and effortless. The driving rock track immediately had crowd members jumping, and McCallion’s vocals immediately get attention.
His laid back stage presence is an enjoyable break from the myriad of rock singers who insist on jumping around at breakneck pace until they're a bag of sweat.

New track ‘Kerosene’ followed. A speedy track with some hectic drumming and good riffs. If the rest of the new E.P. sounds as good as this, fans have something to look forward to – it definitely had an early Metallica sound to it. Old tracks, ‘Car Crash’ and ‘What’s My Pill?’ closed off the set.

‘What’s My Pill?’ is a perfect lesson in how rock should be done. Screaming vocals, thumping drums and some catchy riffs. It sounds like a missing Pearl Jam/Soundgarden track. Catchy and full of energy it begs to be unleashed on the charts, and has to be heard to fully appreciate it.

The performance tonight offered up a well crafted group. All members of the band showed that they were more than competent in providing what was expected of them. The chemistry they show on stage re-enforced that impression – Drummer Chris and front man Dave happily stopping to light up a smoke half way through the gig. The live performance is certainly the way to be introduced to Freeview; studio tracks that are available on the web sound good, but the live aspect adds a whole new dimension to them. The response of the crowd certainly seemed to justify this statement.

After seeing them live, you have to wonder why they are still placing smaller venues such as The Subway. Everything you would expect from a top band seems to be in place; Well written songs, played with great vigour and good skills; Good live; An Interesting band, with a frontman who can hold your attention; Enough marketability.

So why aren’t they there yet? You have to wonder if the 'grunge' tag hinders them somewhat. McCallion’s vocal do immediately draw to obvious comparisons. And with the bands metal, grunge-esque direction it’s easy to label them a clone band left over from the early 90’s. And surely it will be at least another five years before we are due a grunge revival?

But it would be unfair to label them in that way. Listen to a good mix of their tracks and you realise that there’s a consistent quality to the work they have produced, and it covers a good mix of the rock genres. The best suggestion is to go and see them live. And don’t be surprised if you hear 'What’s My Pill?' on your radio sometime soon