The Charlatans - Southampton Guildhall - 16/10/01
5/5
By: Andrew Future
THERE'S A WAR GOING ONPost-gig at The Charlatans, you somehow picture an E'd up Burgess dancing it
up to some spacey dub, table high in rock n roll cliché, burning the night
away. But The Charlatans have to go and play Heaven tomorrow, and Tim is in
a quiet, reflective stance.
So what's going on, man - is new album 'Wonderland' your 'Automatic for the People' then? After all, you've spent ten years f**king around, and now you're really up for it?
Tim laughs. 'Yeah, I don't wanna compare it, man, it's too personal. I really
feel it, y'know? Every time I sing these songs I really feel it. Y'know,
during 'Is It In You', I didn't forget the words, it's just really got to me.'
It doesn't take a genius to see the changes in twenty-first century The
Charlatans. Tonight the cool club is in town and Tim Burgess is head chef,
serving up the heads of every indie band to have dissipated in the wake of
The Charlies' masterful ten-year turnaround. Heart-on-sleeve, it's more about the singer than it's ever been.
Doused in a woolly-mammoth coat, hugging up monkey style to the mic for the opener; the carpeted town hall belts out 'A man needs to be told/There is a war going
on...' with infinite relevance. It's up and away from here, as they glaze through the highlights from 'Wonderland', and Tim literally takes wing for 'Love Is The Key'. He's gone for sure, but as they stop along the way to collect a few hits, 'Judas' and 'And If I Fall' slot in seamlessly alongside 'Weirdo', 'The Only One I Love' and 'Forever'.
The spinning keyboard twirl of 'You're So Pretty, We're So Pretty' drops, and the roof comes off, and you kinda forget why The Charlatans are never anybody's favourite band. With Burgess finding the love, and The Charlatans finding a totally new groove
perhaps that might just change after all.
Artists in this article: The Charlatans
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