The Charlatans – The Underground, Stoke-on-Trent 14/03/11

A rock band can get some flak for embarking on an acoustic tour. In an interview with John Doran of the NME last November, Nicky Wire of Manic Street Preachers associated “interpreting your old albums in an acoustic style” with “pissing your life away , happy but unchallenged”. This March, interpreting old albums in an acoustic style is exactly what Tim Burgess and Mark Collins of The Charlatans – longtime Manics contemporaries – have been doing. Irrespective of Wire’s feelings, the tour looks to be provoking substantial interest, with most dates selling out. On the basis of the show in the intimate surroundings of Stoke’s Underground venue, fans are getting their money’s worth when they take a gamble on these stripped-down and unplugged performances.

Most dates on this tour feature The Watchers in the first support slot, but Stoke was an exception, and instead welcomed Birmingham’s Rogue States. Depleted to just three of their usual four members, the band entered fully into the spirit of headliners’ un-amplified experiment by taking to the stage with three acoustic guitars and a harmonica; although this laid-back version of their songs was pleasant enough, the sheer amount of relatively samey strumming grew tiring just too early. The free 3-track version of their EP Rumours / Secrets documents a fuller, louder rock sound which is no doubt better suited to the live environment, and which is worth checking out.

Another fuller sound was duly provided by Edinburgh singer-songwriter and band Aaron Wright and The Aprils, who join The Charlatans on every date of this tour as part of their own extremely intensive live schedule. Supported by bass, keyboards, drums and a harmonica player who looks almost uncannily like Eddie Izzard, Wright strode on to the stage with a confidence that the previous band could not have projected from their guitar stools. His unusual voice was the highlight of his fun but unexplosive set, which definitely warmed up the now fast-growing crowd.

As the last two bands played, the punters had very cautiously edged closer to the low, exposed stage but by the time the support was concluded the room was completely packed from front to back. When at last the two-man contingent from The Charlatans appeared, the crowd – which seemed to contain more than a few die-hard fans – roared with approval and, complete with an irreverent DIY video backdrop, the show began. The title of the new acoustic EP is Warmer Sounds and in more sense than one, there was plenty of warmth in the room; Burgess and Collins seemed to thrill at playing to a smaller crowd than usual, the former being particularly keen on breaking down barriers and involving the audience in the music.

Somehow though, it was when Burgess was himself less involved that formed the show’s most intriguing moment. As Collins plodded meditatively on through an acoustic solo, Burgess stood right back and watched appreciatively; he looked so serene and so fascinated – as if this was a sight he hadn’t seen thousands of times before – that it was hard not become absorbed in observing him observe. Later, the song-length highlight was ‘Smash the System’ from the band’s last LP Who We Touch, with lyrics that seem especially timely right now. “I don’t belong here in your garden”, Burgess sings, “I should be up there on your throne.” When the band surprisingly modulated into a brief electric conclusion, without bass but with thrilling drums, their crowd had elevated them all onto thrones. If this is the way down for The Charlatans, there are far worse ways to go.