When The Charlatans arrive on stage this evening, the first thing I’m reminded of is how much tragedy this band has survived over the years. After losing founding members with the death of keyboardist Rob Collins in 1996 and drummer Jon Brookes in 2013, the band refused to thrown in the towel, and instead decided to pay tribute to their former band mates with music and keep the group alive. (The second thing I’m reminded of is how ridiculous Tim Burgess look with his peroxide blonde bowl haircut: Tragedy to comedy in one moment.)
They open with a spirited ‘Just When You’re Thinkin’ Things Over’, with Tony Rogers replicating Collins’ bar-room piano to whip up the devoted crowd and set the tone for the rest of the set. ‘North Country Boy’ follows next, and sees a mass sing-a-long turn the intimate venue into an arms in the air celebration, with grins as wide as the one belonging to the blonde Cheshire cat at the front of the stage.
Tonight is no mere greatest hits set: along with ‘Weirdo’, ‘Can’t Get Out of Bed’, ‘Jesus Hairdo’, ‘Just Lookin’ and ‘One to Another’, we’re also treated to classic album tracks such as ‘Toothache’, ‘Here Comes a Soul Saver’ and set closer ‘Sprotson Green’. We also get new numbers ‘Talking in Tones’ and ‘So Oh’, which suggest that this band of survivors aren’t quite ready to throw in the towel just yet.
Paul Sng
Paul Sng
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