Tony Wilson always hailed Shaun Ryder as one of the greatest wordsmiths around; anyone who saw Ryder perform live would find it pretty hard to disagree.
Shaun Ryder was the main support act for The Charlatans on their recent tour, and only a fool would have forgot he was the support act and arrive just in time to catch the last two songs of his set…
…and the last two songs of his set were: Reverend Black Grape and Step On - yep, that fool was me. It does beg the question of how good the rest of the set must have been.
By the time Shaun Ryder started Reverend Black Grape the crowd was buzzin’ – it was like ‘Madchester’ all over again, and with Step On you’re not left with a shadow of a doubt as to what Tony Wilson meant.
Shaun Ryder has an unfathomable allure; Ryder’s band shouldn’t go unmentioned either as they were all exceptional musicians who created an exciting on-stage energy that was contagious.
Next up were the lovely Charlatans; lovely because they come across as a very unassuming and modest band. They have had a career that has lasted over two decades! Yet they don’t seem to carry any of the arrogance that can sometimes be associated with celebrity.
Band pin up and lead singer Tim Burgess almost seems to hide behind his mop of hair and when an audience member shouts “you have a lovely face” he replies coyly “you have a lovely face” almost seeming a little embarrassed. Yet, he has an incredible stage presence and he exudes a strong gravitational pull, making you not want to miss any of the set. No bar breaks here.
After eleven studio albums The Charlatans are now touring their latest release Who We Touch, this latest album shows that The Charlatans are still making great music and the legion of adoring fans in the crowd is testament to that.
Tonight The Charlatans have The Verve’s Pete Salisbury as stand –in drummer due to the tragic on-stage collapse, due to a brain tumor, of drummer Jon Brookes during their US tour.
As you can imagine with a career that has spanned over twenty years the back catalogue of the Charlatans is immense and not only do they play their latest album there are also some golden oldies thrown in - North Country Boy, One To Another, Tellin’ Stories and The Only One I Know, all of which lift the roof of the Academy.
Other songs which stood out from their latest offering were Foolish Pride, Love Is Ending, Smash the System, Intimacy, and the absolute stand out track your Pure Soul. They end an fine set with the crowd pleasing Sproston Green.
Hopefully it won’t be too long before they come back again.
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Liverpool Music Awards 2012 Launches
(Tue 22/05)
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