Worthing was out in force on what was going to be a big Sunday night at the Pavilion Theatre. Tickets had sold out weeks in advance to see Madchester legends, The Charlatans. Admittedly, I am relatively new to their music, only having listened through their catalogue at the beginning of this year after falling in love with their amazing new album, Modern Nature (touted as their best album yet which isn’t surprising). Originating from Birmingham, they entered the music scene in 1989 and have secured two UK number one albums with their debut (Friendly, 1990) and with their self-titled 1995 album. The band also had to deal with the tragic deaths of keyboardist Rob Collins and drummer Jon Brookes. Now with 12 studio albums to date, The Charlatans have firmly cemented their status as one of the best bands to come out of the UK, and brought with them a buzzing atmosphere to an excited Worthing crowd.

 

grasshopper started the proceedings in fine form. Draped in wicked 3D looking visuals, the cool young four-piece from Brighton have an extremely confident sound. They play psychedelic indie that crossed through post-punk and shoegaze on its way to the listener, reminiscent of Franz Ferdinand, The Horrors, and the Editors. Already with two releases under their belt, it is amazing to think that they only have an average age of 17 and yet would show up bands twice as old. After a polished performance that got a great response from the audience, grasshopper are overflowing with promise and potential.

 

The spacy duo, Grumbling Fur, may have been a bit of a mismatch for the Worthing crowd. Daniel O’Sullivan and Alexander Tuckers’ experimental far out sound was full of pulsating electronic and loop effects with Hot Chip esque vocals on top. The pair shared vocal responsibilities and switched between playing electric guitar, bass, keyboard, drum pads, and violin. Tim Burgess joined them for their song ‘Lightinsisters’ where the three of them sang together to a backing track. I’m sure the recorded version of the song sounds great, but the vocal harmonies didn’t quite work as they were struggling to hear themselves, and it ventured into karaoke territory. Thankfully they then went back to their interesting soundscapes with electro elements.

 

After waiting over 20 minutes for a drink at the painfully understaffed bar, it was time for The Charlatans. The crowd were certainly up for it, with a smattering of fans supporting the Tim Burgess look by sporting an oversized blond wig. A short audio intro welcomed the band on stage getting into an undeniable Madchester flow of ‘Forever’, before Burgess entered the stage to an almighty cheer belting out the lyrics which had everyone singing. As if the audience wasn’t already pumped up enough, they followed with ‘Weirdo’ which got everyone moving emphatically.

 

Next came the first single off the new album, ‘Talking In Tones’ which took the tempo down but still sounded just as impressive. Crowd favourite ‘North Country Boy’ followed, making everyone sway with hands in the air, before my favourite song of the set, the wistful ‘So Oh’ that was sung with a big grin on Burgess’s face. During the two hour set The Charlatans played nearly all of the songs from the latest album, highlights including ‘In The Tall Grass’ and, surprising to me, ‘Emilie’. I’m sure by the reaction they recieved, of which majority of the crowd probably hadn’t heard, and would have preferred the older material of which there was plenty. The show ended with arguably their biggest tune, ‘The Only One I Know’, which created gentle little mosh pits around the ballroom, followed by the uplifting and most recent single ‘Come Home Baby’ before they exit the stage. For the encore they played the massive sounding ‘Lean In’ (another one of my favourites off Modern Nature) followed ‘Blackened Blue Eyes’. They finished the show with Burgess geeing up the crowd to squeeze out any remaining energy for an emphatic ending, with ‘Sproston Green’. Burgess left the stage with no goodbye which I thought was a bit odd, leaving the band to finish off with an extended instrumental.

 

You knew before the show what you were going to get from their performance; big tunes that would transport you back to the 90s and an impeccable performance. Tim Burgess sprawled the stage in typical Madchester style in front of an impressive light show, singing with a strong voice and obviously enjoyed the whole affair. The band were faultless, and the addition of The Verve drummer Pete Salisbury fitted perfectly. Personally, I was more impressed by the fantastic sounding new material that has musically progressed from the winning song formula they were comfortable in, but still remains quintessentially The Charlatans.

Iain Lauder