Live Review: The Charlatans

When: 10th November 2010
Where: The Hi-Fi Bar, Brisbane QLD

Relating to music of the modern age and The Charlatans are one of the those British anomalies. A British band loved - predominately and almost only - by British people. I guess you could say the same about certain Australian bands, but having lived in Britain and witnessed this fanaticism with certain acts, there's just an edge that's hard to explain. This may sound completely and utterly insane, but it's a mentality not too dissimilar to that of Tool fans. The blinkers are on and nothing else matters. The two finger salute to society and away we go!

Frontman, Tim Burgess, adds to the turbulence of an outsider looking in at this band. A collective that's rubbed shoulders with the height of popular northern guitar music over the last two and half decades, Burgess is perceived as an aloof and hard to place figure. Where you'd have an odds on chance of picking up some form of "biography" from the likes of Ian Brown, Shaun Ryder and Bernard Butler from your local Waterstones, Burgess has always lurked in the shadows, rather giving us subtle snippets on what he's about. He hasn't given us too much at all and that's the beauty of this artist and his band; Followers have been kept guessing.

Attending a Charlatans show away from the UK is a godsend for true Charlatans fans (including my better half who holds this band in the highest esteem). Having a ring side view of the fact was probably one of the finest things I've seen in 2010, in all honesty. Boozey couples on the brink of midlife crisis getting their day in the sun, just not giving a toss. The charming guitar chime to 'Them' been consumed by the 40 year old guy next to me in a state of disbelief that he's almost in arms reach of any band member (minus drummer, Jon Brookes) may sound a little too weird for one take in, but in a society where one does his best to get ahead in the apparent fashion parade, an instance such as the one I'm witnessing is almost dehumanising.

'Black 'N' Blues Eyes' and 'The Misbegotten' were also highlights while the final drawn out rendition of 'Sproston Green'  - an absolute belter amongst the band's live cannon - rounded off an evening where a good spread of tracks across the band's lengthy discography saw the light of The Hi-Fi Bar and its walls.

I've always thought The Charlatans were a happy medium of The Stone Roses and The Happy Mondays, and although the sentiments of their music certainly allude to something fishing in similar waters, they are a band that certainly contain an energy that is truly their own and in the live arena this is truly evident. Think what you like, but a band like this doesn't kick around for over 20 years without having a little something between the ears. It may have taken me a quarter of that time to be swung by the allure The Charlatans music renders, but seeing them live, I can honestly say that I'm slowly warming to the fact. 

Setlist:

Then
Weirdo
Can't Get Out of Bed
Black 'N' Blue Eyes
Smash The System
You're So Pretty
One to Another
Your Pure Soul
Tellin' Stories
My Beautiful Friend
Oh Vanity
My Foolish Pride
Intimacy
The Misbegotten
The Only One I Know
North Country Boy
This Is The End

Encore:

Love Is Ending
Patrol
Sproston Green


Words by Simon K
Photo courtesy of Francine McIntyre