The Charlatans Full Of Indomitable Northern Soul At Castlefield Bowl, Manchester, 5th July 2025.
- Paul Evans
- Jul 7
- 5 min read
Sound Of The City - 3rd July 2025
IMAGES / WORDS PAUL EVANS
Castlefield Bowl, Manchester, a sun-bathed amphitheatre nestled in the very industrial arteries of the city, is no stranger to iconic performances. Tonight, it’s about to witness a homecoming of sorts, a triumphant return for one of the UKs most enduring musical exports, The Charlatans. There are few bands who have straddle eras and evolved without alienating their roots , The Charlatans have done so with guile and grace. With a career spanning nearly four decades, the band have . always been innovative and full of an indomitable northern soul. They’ve been there, done that, bought the t-shirt more than once yet somehow, they just seem to get better. A rare thing for any band, but especially one together for so long .
The approach to Castlefield Bowl always seems to be something of a pilgrimage. Set among Roman ruins, redbrick viaducts and the canal walkways the site feels like a meeting ground of Manchester’s cultural past. From the off, there is not just a sense of energy and excitement in the crowds, but a sense of shared reverence. This isn’t just going to be a concert, it’ll be a reaffirmation of a cultural legacy, uniquely entrenched in Mancunian musical history, but universally resonant.
Summer in Manchester can be unpredictable, but the skies hold, casting golden light across the Bowl. The city’s distinctive warmth, more attitude than climate, pulses in the crowd and without any preamble, we’re treated to the sprawling, cinematic Forever from Us and Us Only. With its hypnotic groove and slow-burn energy, it’s a fitting declaration: The Charlatans aren’t here to sprint, they’re here to journey. As always, Tim Burgess, eternally youthful and grinning cuts a magnetic figure. his voice drifting effortlessly through the chorus. The crowd sway in a unified trance. Here is a band in their fourth decade, playing a song that sounds as if it had just been written. Burgess’ voice floats on Tony Rogers’ swirling keys, with bassist Martin Blunt grounding everything with soulful Mod grace. Forever reminds me of what the band has always done best: fusion.
The triple-punch of Weirdo, North Country Boy and Can't Get Out of Bed are full of indie swagger. “This one’s for all the weirdos” announces Burges before the crowd bounce to the sadly departed Rob Collins’s raucous Hammond melody. Weirdo seems more alive than ever under a purple twilight sky. The tight stabs of Tony Roger’s organ and Mark Collins swirling guitar, and subtle bass are deliciously unrelenting. It’s like a mantra for everyone who’d ever fallen in and out of the same Manchester bar in the ‘90s. North Country Boy’s breezy charm ignites a chorus of Mancunian voices. Before Can't Get Out of Bed somehow proves how a song about inertia can feel like liberation when thousands of people sing it in unison. There's something beautifully ironic about a tune so downbeat inspiring such euphoria, but this is one of the things The Charlatans do best. They mine anxiety for dance-floor gold.
Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over is a reminder that mid-‘90s Charlatans were as rich as any period in their career. Gritty, groove-heavy and full of sneer, the song thrills a crowd still riding a nostalgic high. Toothache’s psychedelic, country jam is tonight’s wild card. A swirling, effects-laden voyage complete with blistering keys and guitar. The lights turning cool blue, casting shadows across the faces of the front row as Burgess sways. It’s a song that encapsulates their early post-baggy experimentation and hearing it tonight feels like discovering a lost gem, a secret whispered from the past into the future.
The first new song of the night We Are Love is introduced with little fanfare. Burgess simply smiling: “This is a new one” The song has the DNA of classic Charlatans: warm Fender Rhodes and Hammond organ, driving bass and drums, layered guitars. It’s a celebration of unity, of perseverance. It doesn’t sound like a band clinging to past glories. It sounds like a band building a new future. The crowd embrace it fully – not Perhaps a new anthem is born. Momentum is everything now. As dusk gives way to full darkness, The Charlatans fire up a relentless string of hits. One to Another erupts like a long fuse finally detonated. Its infectious rhythm and snarling swagger make it a highlight. Just Lookin’ suddenly, turns Castlefield Bowl into a festival field. Arms are aloft, eyes closed, lyrics mouthed in blissful unison. There’s a certain magic to the way the track lingers between yearning and groove. It’s pop with backbone, indie with soul. The haunting piano motif and insistent beat of Blackened Blue Eyes is met with crowd reverence. Burgess’ delivery, wounded and accusatory, turns the track into a stage play.
The Only One I Know arrives with that instantly recognisable Hammond intro and the Bowl erupts. For a few minutes, it’s 1990 again. The rising, iconic bassline from Martin, the organ swirl, the looping vocal. It feels eternal. This is the song that defined a generation and still defines a band. Yet it feels and sounds different tonight. How High closes the main set in a blaze with the greatest crowd reaction so far. Faster, brasher, joyfully chaotic and pure. It’s a euphoric and combustible way to end the main set.
The encore begins with I Don’t Want to See the Sights before another new song Many a Day a , , Heartache kicks in, softer, but bruised with hope. Finally, it must be Sproston Green. The band, as ever building it into a storm from the opening chime of guitar to the riotous instrumental crescendo, it’s a showstopper. A closing hymn as Castlefield Bowl becomes a whirlpool of sound and gratitude.
There is something about The Charlatans that Manchester will never let go of and that they, too, will never let go of in return. They are part of the city’s cultural muscle even though they are technically not a Manchester band. Old hits haven’t just been nostalgia tonight. They’ve been touchstones. New songs haven’t just been additions. They’ve been promises. The Charlatans have never been the flashiest, but they’ve always been the realest. Tonight, in their adopted City under stars and lights and history, they proved once again why they still matter. Long may they rule. Forever, if possible.
SETLIST
Forever
Weirdo
North Country Boy
Can't Get Out of Bed
Here Comes a Soul Saver
Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over
Toothache
We Are Love
One to Another
Just Lookin'
Blackened Blue Eyes
Impossible
The Only One I Know
How High
Encore:
I Don't Want to See the Sights
Many A Day A Heartache
Sproston Green
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