01 June 2012 (gig)
07 June 2012
It’s a proud summer to be British, traditionally and culturally speaking and during this week of patriotic celebration The Charlatans, took the Manchester O2 Apollo down memory lane to the last great bastion of British guitar music.
No band had walked on stage but the electricity in the room was high, the speakers filled the room with anticipation and the sound of Brit Pop.
Interrupted by a slender silhouette of who appears to be a resurrected Andy Warhol, on account of Tim Burgees fetching new blonde bowl haircut, the band begin their two hour journey into melodic psychedelic pop.
Stomping and flowing, they begin with “With No Shoes” sixties inspired and trippy, the crowd react to the Wah Wah of Mark Collins’s guitar emphatically.
In truth the audience really got going when “North Country Boy” began, jumping from side to side, it was a rallying call to a great period of British music, a usually overseen and overshadowed sing a long anthem of the nineties scene.
The Album’s title track settles the crowd back down before the feedback and piano melody of “One to Another” kicks in, the rapture of the crowd inspired by the riff and Burgees sharp vocals portrayed the optimism on the record and the period it was recorded, a confidence and passion unrivalled by many of today’s modern contenders.
The Mid album lull, preceded the snarling “How High” before the band walked off after the 50 minute running length of the album. The second half of the show, as everyone knew would happen, consisted of a harp back to the bands other hits.
They included “Love is the Key” The Stones inspired “Just when you’re thinkin’ Things Over” and the unquestionable Charlatans anthem, “The Only One I know”.
The Nostalgia journey down the rabbit hole may be as common as muck these days, but The Charlatans demonstrated that British guitar music hasn’t really been as prominent or as popular as it was 15 years ago, but stand as one of the many bands who fought in the last great British Invasion of rock.
