After attending a few shows over the weeks leading up t this show, I was waiting to hear the dreaded news that all live music was cancelled and shows would have to be postponed until after the new year, we crossed everything and JUST about managed to get away with it as the tour was put on ice a couple of days after this show.

Tonight’s entertainment would take place at The Great Hall, part of the Exeter University complex, I swear that I saw The Charlatans here back in the 90’s, maybe it was The Lemon Grove down the road but either way, it didn’t feel like nearly 30 years had passed!

Opening the evening was ex-Boo Radleys guitarist Martin Carr who was accompanied by the What Future trio which consisted of Gaz Williams on bass, drummer Bernie Plain and keyboard player Matthew Frederick.

Carr played a wonderful set taking in a couple of the old Boo’s tracks as well as some new numbers which pleased the audience who had come early to catch him perform.

After a brief shuffling of instruments on stage, we were ready for the main act and with the recent release of their career spanning ‘best of’ entitled ‘A Head Full of Ideas’, you wouldn’t be wrong if you were expecting a set which covered the early days to their latest releases and just about everything in-between. With 14 studio albums under their belts, there was certainly no shortage of material to choose from.

Tim Burgess looked as youthful and effervescent as ever in a pair of jeans and a printed jumper, whirling around the stage, gyrating and thrusting here there and everywhere whilst doing a wonderful job of keeing the show on track. His voice has held up well over the years and it was great to hear his tones filling the auditorium once again.

Having seen them in their heyday of the early 90s and a couple of times since, it was great to see them on form and playing a crowd pleasing set which everyone reacted positively to. Burgess even busted out a harmonica early on in the set which sounded tight and added a nice touch to proceedings.

The backdrop displayed video from the early days of them performing live, flyers, tour date listings and promo band shots were also shown (where they looked so young and innocent!)

The thumping bass and drums, trudging guitar melodies and whirling keyboards took me back to the golden age of the Britpop movement and with the charlatans being a forerunner of the scene, you felt like you were transported back in time nearly 30 years to enjoy the sound of the times but without the sky high mortgage interest rates!

The last 3 songs of the set ‘The Only One I Know’, ‘North Country Boy’ and ‘How High’ really hit the mark, the audience reacting to what were their most successful singles and helped put them on the map in the early days.

They dashed off stage to freshen up prior to returning to play a further 3 tracks, culminating with ‘Sprostum Green’ which bought things to a close, with the room bouncing and Burgess playing with his virtual light saber on stage, the endless groove, soaring guitars and spiralling synths really captured the mood and was the perfect way to end the show.

The Charlatans may not have the same following as they did ‘in the day’ but it was a treat to see so many people of a similar age to myself out before Christmas having one last hurrah before Boris plunges us into another lock down.….probably.

Setlist

Forever

Weirdo

Can’t Get Out of Bed

Then

Impossible

You’re So Pretty

Sleepy Little Sunshine Boy

Just When

One to Another

Different Days

Ian Rankin Spoken Word

Plastic

Easy Life

A Man Needs

Blind Stagger

The Only One I Know

North Country Boy

How High

Blackened

Trouble Understanding

Sproston Green