The Charlatans / The Black Ryder

Andy J Ryan Apr 11, 2023

The Charlatans – The Forum 14 November, 2008

The Black Ryder cut through the pre-Charlatans chatter with a mightily mesmerising mist of sprawling guitars and sparse, smoky vocals. Ride’s ‘Vapour Trails’ came booming out of the venue’s Pa and pretty much date-stamped the mood of the evening. The Charlatans really shouldn’t be lumped in with the reform-a-rama of the last couple of years as they had never really broken up, but I’ll go out on a limb and speculate that most here tonight wished to be ‘up to their hips in the band’s mid-nineties hits.

This was the band’s first ever visit to our shores in their near twenty-year career and the fact that the show was sold-out weeks ago gave a good indication of the level of anticipation. The between band choice of music may be an under appreciated art, but I tip my hat to the Forum’s disc spinner for the zesty choice of ‘tween set tunes that kept the crowd cherry ripe for the main course and the atmosphere buzzing right until the moment The Charlatans took the stage.

Our headliners just owned it right from the moment they walked on. Lead singer Tim Burgess bounded out in a bewitching bundle of black-bob cut and effusive energy, casually waving to the packed crowd as he ducked, weaved and gestured his way about the stage. The songs traversed the band’s ten albums, swaying from the relatively recent ‘Mis-Takes’, ‘Bad Days’ and ‘Blackened Blue Eyes’ right back to ‘Opportunity’ from their 1990 debut Some Friendly.

The set peaked with a coupling of Charlatans classics when 1997’s Tellin’ Stories single ‘One To Another’ lead into the glorious ‘Only One I Know’ which had all three tiers of the venue dancing and punctuating every note with raised arms and phones alike. They pretty much had the crowd and their mercy after that and they milked it better than a Dairy Farmers employee.

All too soon the band were thanking us all and wistfully acknowledging their long coming arrival in Australia and letting us know “This is the End”. It wasn’t though, and the band returned amidst much frenzied chanting for a throttling quinella of ‘North Country Boy’ and ‘How High’ before departing the stage once more only to return for their debut album’s – and tonight’s – closing song ‘Sproston Green’.

If it proves just to be a once off tour, then no one could justly ask for much more. It was just an ultra-impressive and completely compelling show well worth the wait.