BEST recognised as frontman of Mancunian baggy-era originals The Charlatans, Tim Burgess is a bit of an indie Peter Pan figure. Well, at least his hair never seems to age.
At this show, in support of his second solo album Oh No I Love You, it was a boyish bleached blonde bowl cut that the 45-year-old peered out from beneath – rather complimenting the likeably smiley, mildly eccentric persona he’s adopted since swapping drugs for Diet Coke and transcendental meditation. Indeed Burgess recently had a breakfast cereal, Totes Amazeballs, created in his honour.
His new album is itself an agreeably unusual proposition. A rudimentary version of the warm horns-burnished tumbledown Americana resulting from a partnership with Lambchop man Kurt Wagner, from the dialled-down dreamy rock of Tobacco Fields to the strolling country of Anytime Minutes.
The peaking chorus of We All Need Love was warmly uplifting, likewise the gentle shuffle which overtook the crowd as the northern soul groove of the closer White kicked-in.
Another Burgess solo album will presumably be slow in coming, what with The Charlatans remaining an on-going concern – indeed, Charlatans guitarist Mark Collins played rhythm here in a nice show of comradeship, while a one-time member, Martin Duffy of Primal Scream, was on keys. But here’s hoping it’s every bit as totes amazeballs when it does arrive.
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