Rock and Pop: Charlatans @ Union Chapel
Published: 24 March, 2011
by ALLAN LEDWARD
AMONG the finest exponents of the indie organ, the celestial Charlatans dispensed with their signature sound in what would have been a natural home for a Hammond.
Solar frontman Tim Burgess and moody Manc lad guitarist Mark Collins presented a poignant, largely unplugged evening to a packed congregation at the Union Chapel last Wednesday.
Throughout their melodramatic odyssey the band have absorbed myriad influences, so musically morphing into a folk duo has proved little obstacle, as shown on their excellent Warm Sounds EP.
Here Comes A Soul Saver and Just When You’re Thinking Things Over were among the brightest moments within the candle-lit walls, while anthemic The Only One I Know was given a lullaby serenity.
That “Chapel moment” was matched during the ethereal encore, Burgess seated with guitar, for a wonderful reconfiguration of Sproston Green, their soaring homage to a hamlet just off junction 18 of the M6.
An unlikely moving evening from a proven live act who shook the room with more romance than rock.