The Warehouse - Wednesday, April 5, 2000

Toronto, Ontario Canada

 

   I am sure I wasn’t the only one happy to see The Charlatans back in town, it has been a few years since we have been graced with their presence.  To make the evening even more enjoyable, The Stereophonics tagged along for the adventure.    The more I hear from The Stereophonics, the more I love them, the music is just so good.  Lead singer / guitarist Kelly Jones has such an unique voice, it is so powerful and yet with such a raw feel to it you just can’t forget it.  Drummer Stuart Cable, who is entirely to fun to watch, and can certainly play those skins, while bassist Richard Jones, looks cool and definitely shows the crowd he enjoys what he is doing.  They kicked off the evening with ‘Roll Up And Shine’, the first track off their second album “Performance And Cocktails”, followed by 12 others including ‘Traffic’, ‘Hurry Up & Wait’, and ‘Pick A Part That’s New’, all which had the crowd moving and singing along. 

 

   All of a sudden we start to hear those familiar keyboards, a sound in which is ever so evident to the Manchester scene not so long ago.  It is not long before you realize it is the beginning to ‘Forever’, a song off the new album “Us And Us Only” is dancing in your ears.  To a few thousand screaming fans, lead singer Tim Burges makes his presence known.  Now the fun begins...  Sticking mostly to the new album, The Charlatans treated fans to new songs like ‘The Blind Stagger’, and their first single off of “Us and Us Only” called ‘My Beautiful Friend’. A few treasured oldies where performed as well, songs like ‘Just Lookin’, ‘Just When You’re Thinking Things Over’, ‘North Country Boy’, and ‘Weirdo’.  Although the evening seemed to roll by very fast, their last song ‘Sproston Green’(which seems to end most of their shows) had the crowd singing along and soaking up every minute, before those Manchester boys head back to the UK.   Overall, having a double bill of British bands, certainly makes for one hell of a great time.  How can you go wrong with a number of handsome blokes and many smashing tunes, impossible if you ask me.  By Katherine Dexter