Music review: The Charlatans, Barrowland, Glasgow

Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess barely needed to whip up any enthusiasm among the crowd as the band’s enduring songs did the work for him, writes Fiona Shepherd

The Charlatans, Barrowland, Glasgow ****

The Charlatans are creatures of habit – good habits. Even more than 30 years into their career, the veteran indie heroes still end their live shows with the same song(s), giving the signal for communal catharsis.

They return to the scene of their crimes – their latest two sold-out shows at Barrowland took their tally of appearances at the beloved East End ballroom to a whopping 25 gigs and for that they were awarded a Barrowland Hall of Fame plaque on stage on the first night.

Tim Burgess of The Charlatans PIC: Michael Gillen / National World

Frontman Tim Burgess, meanwhile, has done some Dorian Gray deal with the gods of rock, flopping around the stage with the same puppyish enthusiasm he has shown since joining the band at the turn of the Nineties.

Burgess is an everyman shaman, reliably nasal of voice and abundant of charm, blowing kisses to his adoring fans.

Yet the singer barely needed to whip up any enthusiasm among the crowd as the enduring songs did the work for him, from easy anthems Can't Get Out of Bed and North Country Boy via Just When You’re Thinking Things Over, featuring the band at their effortless Stonesy best, to the epic One to Another, their baggy homage to Sympathy for the Devil.

Early hit single Then was driven by a soulful bass line and accompanied by a fruit salad light show to create an immersive psychedelic jam with the whole band going hell-for-leather before an excellent Tellin’ Stories brought the room back to reality with its sage contention that “the stories that you tell come back to haunt you”.

The psych funk groove of Weirdo provided another change of gear, before the band flitted seamlessly from the Byrds-referencing indie disco classic The Only One I Know to the harmonica-fuelled Gram Parsons-influenced Impossible, from harmonica to bagpipes for a drone-driven rendition of Oh! Vanity and then, as per prior agreement, to committed set closer Sproston Green.

Another sustained habit upheld: a consistently great gig delivered.