Another cold, wet Monday autumn night. Lifted by seeing Northwich sons The Charlatans take the stage at the Parr hall, Warrington.
Rulers of the World opened, squashed to the front of the stage. the drummer made up for any lack of impact of three guitars on the stage.
To read accounts on The Charlatans blog you would get the idea the place was half empty with little emotion from the 30 & 40 somethings that packed the standing area.
The new album material You cross my path played well really well live. My mix-tape from the week before Belfast gig helped my Ipod & ears prepare for what to expect.
Tim looked younger than ever (nice Docs and drain pipes) taking a nice gift of a scarf from the front row of the audience. If his grasp of 10 years back lyrics was in doubt or not I don't know. He certainly had some words on a sheet of paper out at some stage.
There was a good mix of classics too in the set:
- You Cross My Path
- Wierdo
- Bad Days
- Black & Blue Eyes
- Judas
- Mis-takes
- Then
- Bird
- Soul Saver
- One to Another
- The Only One I Know
- Oh Vanity
- My Name Is Despair
- Opportunity
- Misbegotton
- You're So Pretty
- Ignition
- Its what it Is
- Crashing In
- This is the end (suitably the end before the encore..)
- A day for letting go
- How High
- Sposton Green
There were smashing versions of the last two tracks. If there was any doubt if the Charls had lost it, these last songs dispelled it. Check out some images from the gig
The Parr Hall worked well in the vein of the smaller more intimate venues on this tour. I would question the level of surcharge applied for cards at the venue however, it was way cheaper to buy tickets on-line than in person at the box office. As culture goes, Warrington is destined to lag behind its larger North West brothers to its west and east, while profits come first before encouraging its locals to enjoy whats on its doorstep.
Maybe a repeat of V96 in Warrington Victoria park is well overdue.....
Needless to say it was good to be on the train back to the smoke at teh end of the evening...
