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Im always fairly biased when it comes to seeing The Charlatans live, being one of my favourite bands, for me, they never dissapoint live. Thursday night was no exception. Kicking off with NYC from their slightly dissapointing new album the crowd took a while to warm up. But as soon as the opening drums to the classic "Feeling Holy" kicked in the show really started. Old song after old song followed with the band seemingly reenergised. Tim Burgess and drummer Jon Brookes looking as youthful as if they were back in 1994.

 

The crowd went crazy when the guys played a couple of tracks from Up To Our Hips - "Cant Get out Of Bed" and "Jesus Hairdo", after seeing the band 15 times now ive never heard them play those songs, so I was very chuffed.

 

Overall it was a fantastic night, a sense of euphoria was in the room on set closer "Sproston Green" with members of the audience hugging eachother at the end of the show.

 

I took a few shots with my phone - but they came out pretty well....

 

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I AM SEEING THEM TOMORROW IN NYC! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! :rock

 

Sweet! Have a great time! :cheers

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/artic...3_feature.shtml

 

Review: The Charlatans

by Simon Clough

 

Mancunian indie stalwarts The Charlatans played a gig crammed with hits from their well-stocked back catalogue as well as tracks from their new album, Simpatico, at the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

 

In an alternative universe, The Charlatans are called The Bloody Jesuses, because they keep coming back from the dead.

 

True fact: The Charlatans' back catalogue is a many-headed monster of stunning invention and a thick, rich consistency.

 

The strength of tonight’s set-list is a testament to this: not because of the songs - new and old - we hear, but because of the many great ones that get left out. For a band to be free to pick and choose in this way is no mean feat.

 

The some-time Manchester five-piece saunter on to a fairly casual welcome, like a slovenly neighbour walking through your back door.

 

Front man Tim Burgess – looking tired it must be said – barely smiles while waving to a few eager faces.

 

New material

 

First up is NYC (There’s No Need To Stop), taken from new album Simpatico, another paean to a city still licking its wounds.

 

This is followed later with a tribute to Johnny Cash. So could they be accused of jumping on the bandwagon? Yeah, but so what, it’s done well!

 

We’ve had the funked-up Charlatans with Burgess’ falsetto and now they’re on a dub/calypso tip.

 

They've always been a band keen to mix things up – which you have to admire them for, even if sometimes it doesn’t come off. Oasis they ain’t.

 

Mark Collins - the band's unsung lynchpin - does nothing fancy with the guitar, and the songs soar because of it.

 

Burgess seems a little disaffected at first – as if he'd rather be elsewhere - but shrugs off the chill and gets stuck in once a few of the beered-up fans have found their feet and lungs.

 

Burgess - not always on song – displays a power and control you wouldn't credit him.

 

'Trip down memory lane'

 

Old favourites North Country Boy, Jesus Hairdo, The Only One I Know and Impossible all go down like a lift at a hotel for fat people.

 

It’s a hazy trip down memory lane, as well as an introduction to much of the new stuff; a ‘that was us then, this is us now’ affair.

 

In years to come Blackened Blue Eyes will join the ranks of How High and Just When You’re Thinking Things Over as a classic.

 

The thundering keys arrival in One To Another is still one of the best moments in music – a sonic epitaph to the late Rob Collins, played instead by Tony Rogers.

 

The set ends with Sproston Green, the band letting go long after the words have been sung.

 

Tim Burgess may be fey and effete, but he is a singer/songwriter to be treasured. Fed up with the vagaries of fame, he now lives in the States, but it seems the music is always worth coming back for.

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