There are many artists you'd pin as 'album bands', and prefer to see an anniversary tour of a certain record.
But then there are singles bands, who often seem frowned upon. The Charlatans, one of the premier Britpop-era bands out of the UK, are one of those bands (after all, they released six albums in the 1990s alone, and have 13 to their name now).With so many 'classics' spanning their career, Tim Burgess and co. had no problems packing out the Croxton on this Friday night (14 October) for their play-the-hits tour, with the gig sold-out and little room to move or get within 15 metres of the stage for any latecomers.
And the band delivered in spades, rolling through favourites like 'Weirdo', 1994 triple j minor hit 'Can't Get Out Of Bed' and 'Then', with Burgess commanding the stage, grinning, encouraging the crowd to sing-along (to be honest, not much encouragement was needed here).
A few odd choices aside, like 'Sleepy Little Sunshine Boy', the hits just kept coming: 'Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over', 'One To Another', the absolutely stunning 'Tellin' Stories' and 'The Only One I Know'.
An encore was inevitable, with a couple of key omissions from the set, and the band returned for 'North Country Boy' and an energised 'How High', one of the highlights from 1997's 'Tellin' Stories'.
Calling The Charlatans a singles band is no disservice – in fact, their 1998 greatest hits set 'Melting Pot' is a fantastic showcase of the stylistic ground they've covered through their early career and how well everything also works together.
Much like this, the set highlighted their style tangents but flowed together almost seamlessly.
Burgess has not slowed down, either, both onstage and behind the scenes; his Twitter listening party series is something of legend and he's involved in all kinds of projects. And he still looks to be having as much fun onstage as he did in the slightly more under-the-influence times of the mid-1990s.
This timelessness and joy of music was certainly the mood that prevailed at the Croxton tonight, and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone disappointed by the time they filed out.
