Old school Indie boys The Charlatans play their first night of a week long tour of intimate gigs in Scotland. Tonight sees them play The Picture House, Edinburgh's newest venue, only opening its doors a few weeks previously. The Charlatans are among the first to grace its stage, and here's hoping more bands follow suit. As the lights went down, the band swagger on and rattle into a pulsating version of new album track 'You Cross My Path', quickly followed by 'Bad Days'. The Charlatans showcasing of their new tracks is greatly received, however, any hint of a classic indie anthem soon whipped the Edinburgh crowd into a frenzy. Moving through tracks such as 'Judas' and 'Mis-takes', Tim Burgess oozes sex appeal as he flirts with the girls and the boys, hi-fiving and blowing kisses, he spends a lot of time talking to the front of the audience unfortunately not into his microphone. The guys wanna be him, the girls just want him and he knows it.
A medley of classics sees the crowd go mad - 'Here Comes a Soul Saver' followed by 'One To Another', 'The Only One' and new track' Oh! Vanity'. Mark Collins only has to dart out the first few notes to 'One To Another' and the venue rocks in unison, the mix of keyboards and drums with Tim's searing vocal all builds to an epic performance. The atmosphere is electric as grown men are throwing themselves at the stage and and more people are crowd surfing than standing! Bringing down the pace with 'My Name Is Despair' the sound shifts bringing an aboriginal vibe to it. The track allows the crowd to breathe as they conserve their energy for 'The Misbegotten' and 'Your So Pretty'. Tim Burgess announces ”this track is as old as us” as they burst into 'Crashin' In'. The set is closed appropriately with 'This Is The End' as the crowd sway along to the personal and intimate lyrics.
A 10 minute disappearance sees fans giving up hope of a return and leaving, however, the ones who had faith were not disappointed. 'How High' allows the nostalgists among us to be taken back one last time and this time the crowd wanna party, as people dance anywhere they can, seats, staircases and even attempts to dance on stage were made. The finale came in the shape of The Velvet Undergrounds 'There She Goes Again'. Martin Blunt's bass shudders through The Picture House as the band make an exit. The audience leave in awe of a band who stormed through a 20 strong set list of tremendous fervour.
by Lynsey Ure | Photos by PR Photos
Tags: The Charlatans
Saturday 11/10/08 The Charlatans @ The Picture House, Edinburgh
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