The Beat Surrender

My night gets off to a slightly strange start as I spend over an hour talking to a Sheffield Wednesday fan in the pub round the corner from the venue, this is once we find the venue in the car having negotiated our way around Sheffield Centre for a good 30 minutes.

Now I’m a generally friendly person but I’ve not had much love for anything to do with the Wendy’s as a Leeds fan, so this is a slightly unnerving experience, it’s made a touch easier though by the fact he’s a decent lad and strangely he drinks in one of my local pubs.

A few beers consumed in this packed pub and it’s time to head on to the venue, unfortunately we’d forgotten who was supporting and hadn’t made the effort to leave the pub any sooner, a mistake as it turns out it was The Longcut who I’ve got a few singles by.

Still it’s not them that we’ve travelled 30 miles to see, it’s our old favourites The Charlatans, a band that despite losing their edge on record with the last two releases have still always managed to cut it live when I’ve seen them. Pint in hand (again) we edge out into the busy venue and within a couple of minutes the band are on stage.

Although they are met by a big cheer and despite the fact this is a singles set to promote the accompanying CD release Forever, the crowd seem somewhat subdued for a Charlies gig. They’ve always had a devoted and loyal following and the gigs have been celebratory affairs with a great atmosphere. Tonight though it seems like everyone has a collective hangover, people are talking, there is little sign of much movement at the front and all this is despite them playing the likes of One To Another, The Only One I Know, Weirdo, Love Is The Key and Just When You’re Thinkin’ Things Over.

The band though are nothing if not professional, they rattle hit after hit off and they sound as good as ever, the only criticism I would have is that because of the type of set they are playing, it all seems a little bit slick and borders on them going through the motions. Things though really do kick into gear when they finish with the classic Sproston Green.

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