The Charlatans @ Union Chapel, London

It’s a stone cold fact that gigs in churches are brilliant. We can already hear you tutting away, but allow us to deliver our three-fold defence: 1) The atmosphere is incredible; 2) Everyone can see the band; and, most importantly, 3) You can have a nice cup of hot chocolate without damaging your hipster/rock n’ roll credibility.

(Actually, we suspect hipsters would probably find some non-existent irony in having a hot drink at a gig, but we digress…).

Conducting the night’s sermon was Reverend Timothy of Burgess, guiding a congregation of diehard fans through a stripped-down batch of Charlatans classics. In a wide-ranging set which spanned the band’s 20 year career, Burgess and Collins moved from more by-the-numbers acoustic versions of tracks like ‘You’re A Big Girl Now’, to more ambitious arrangements from the forthcoming Warm Sounds EP.



With a little help from the night’s string quartet, these tracks comprehensively proved that it’s possible to teach old dogs new tricks. The new life breathed into ‘Oh! Vanity’, ‘The Only One I Know’ and the particularly excellent – and incredibly broody – ‘North Country Boy’, reminding you why you fell in love with them in the first place.

An hour-and-a-half (and a surprise appearance from My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields) later, the band found themselves greeted with a standing ovation as the final chord of ‘One to Another’ rung out. That in itself tells you all you need to know about this show and, indeed, The Charlatans themselves.

Other bands will come and go, but The Charlatans will live forever.