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Tonight is a tale of two very different bands with one big thing in common – nostalgia. Headliners The Charlatans don't want the ‘N' word getting into the gig tonight, but the half-full venue is here for the hits and the hits only. So every time a baggy drumbeat or distorted chord strikes up that isn't One to Another, North Country Boy, Jesus Hairdo or any one of the other stone-cold classics residing in the Charlies' back catalogue, the bar staff and toilet attendants are the only ones bracing themselves for a rush. Tim Burgess and Co. may have taken armed robberies, imprisonment and death in their stride, but they're unable to cope with a lack of interest in material from new album Simpatico and the gig descends into a farcical, half-assed greatest hits set, from which only the most loyally blinkered Charlatans fan goes home happy. The headliners' performance comes in stark contrast to a storming set from The Feeling, peddling their debut album Twelve Stops and Home at the ungodly hour of 7.30pm. The Sussex five-piece embrace both nostalgia and winning tunes with equal fervour, making their brief half-hour set pure 1970s AOR joy and showing that radio hit Sewn was no one-off. Whereas The Charlatans try and run from history, The Feeling embrace it and it is the support band that comes out the clear winner. Pic: Terry Walters / Words: James Cocks |
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The Feeling, The Charlatans