Charlatans poster on Short St by Buckaroo Kid
The Charlatans gig at The Social on Monday was one such exception to the rule - slightly tipsy from the month long 10th birthday celebrations upstairs and clambering over the heads of the assembled crowd, Tim Burgess made a spectacular entrance (much to the relief of the rest of the already assembled band), ducking almost bashfully behind his trademark mop of hair. From the moment he finally touched down on the stage and the signature twangs of the Hammond organ drifted out across our heads, the audience didn’t stop dancing for a single track - ranging from the classic 'The Only One I Know' to the more mainstream 'North Country Boy'. Yet whilst once we might have merely waved our arms in the air, there was now a sea of Blackberrys and iPhones bobbing about. The set was rich with quality tracks, but not nearly long enough to cram in everyone’s favourites. However - as one member of the band pointed out - it was a school night “and we’ve got to get back up North”.
We may be all grown up now, and there may be some things that we will never learn, but at The Social we relived a little of our teenage euphoria. Workers of the World unite - long live the great October Socialist revolution!
Ruth Lang