The Charlatans @ UEA
My love for the band has been completely reinvigorated
I’ve been listening to The Charlatans for 25 years, their debut album was a big part of my life’s soundtrack at that time, yet somehow I’ve always managed to miss them on one of their many visits to Norwich over the years. It was time to finally cross one of my ‘must see’ bands off the list then.
Arriving early to catch Hot Vestry, signed to Tim Burgess’s O Genesis label, they mostly impressed during their 30 minute set. Featuring a brilliant drummer who was channeling his inner Clem Burke, it’s easy to imagine their bass led synth heavy 80’s grooves blowing away a packed club. Here they played to a half empty venue, but no matter, better things await them I’m sure.
Next up were Sunderland’s Frankie & The Heartstrings who despite expending tons of energy and working really hard to get a reaction from the crowd (which they mostly did to be fair) they left me completely cold. They reminded me of the Boo Radleys and I just wasn’t convinced by their act at all.
By now the LCR was packed and there was a real sense of anticipation in the air. Opening with the relatively low key Talking In Tones from latest album Modern Nature only heightened that sense of anticipation before full lift off was achieved with Weirdo and North Country Boy. There is not a single aspect of the show I can fault – the sound was big, fat, bassy and, crucially, LOUD. Tim Burgess was a brilliant frontman, always dancing and egging on the crowd with his voice sounding perfect. The visuals on the big screen, supplied by our very own Dan Tombs, were excellent, really helping to take the show to another level, especially combined with the superb lighting. Instrumentally the band are of the highest calibre, Tony Rogers' keyboard work was brilliant and is absolutely integral to their sound, while Mark Collins guitar and Martin Blunt’s bass are what gives the music such a fat groove. It was a pleasure to watch such great players at the top of their game.
The crowd were lively throughout, feeding off the energy the band created, even though most of their material is actually mid-paced; testament to their greatness. Lots of material off the new album was played and So Oh and Let The Good Times Be Never Ending were two of the night’s best songs – slinky, supple and sexy grooves. What a great rock ‘n’ roll band they are, what a great soul band they are, what a great psychedelic band they are, they’d probably be a great string quartet if they wanted to be. Getting to hear The Only One I Know & Sproston Green typified all that is so good about the communal live music experience. There’s no denying that the older songs got the strongest crowd reaction but not a single duff track was played and my love for the band has been completely reinvigorated. I’ll certainly be going back and giving some of those more recent albums, ones that I perhaps didn’t invest enough time in, a closer listen.
This was my 59th gig of the year and easily one of the best. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to see them live, but it was worth the wait. Now I want more please, and soon.
