When the going gets tough, The Charlatans get tougher.

The Charlatans may be dubbed as “the unluckiest band in pop” but that didn’t stop them from putting out a good show for their debut gig in Singapore on Nov 23 as part of the *SCAPE Concert Series.

It’s admirable as the 5 boys has faced a whole multitude of setbacks – since their formation in 1989, they’ve lost keyboardist, Rob Collins, to a car accident; suffered lawsuits due to conflicting band names; been swindled of album sales by an ex-accountant; and most recently, witnessed their drummer, Jon Brookes, collapse onstage as a result of a brain tumour.

Yet, The Charlatans have trudged on with their infectious dance rock tunes, not letting anything get in the way of them producing 11 albums to date with their latest being Who We Touch (2010).

1_The Charlatans

After an opening act by local band, West Grand Boulevard, a glance around the *SCAPE Warehouse found a mostly older crowd and a smattering of 20-somethings clutching plastic cups of beer.

Tim Burgess (vocalist), Mark Collins (guitar), Martin Blunt (bass), Tony Rogers (keyboards) and Peter Salisbury (of The Verve, touring drummer) strode onstage amid a wall of noisy feedback and immediately the energy levels in the room rocketed sky high.

Burgess (or the whole band in fact) was a man of very few words. His opening address after the second song, 1992’s UK Top 20 hit “Weirdo”, which had a cool spy bass riff running throughout, was a brief “Thanks a lot. Hello, we are The Charlatans.” He, however, felt entirely comfortable twirling his microphone cable around and dancing across the length of the stage, which was slightly bigger than the average school hall’s.

2_Tim Burgess

When they launched into “Blackened Blue Eyes”, the band’s lead single from their ninth album, Simpatico, the combination of Roger’s dramatic keyboard playing, Burgess’ drawling vocals had the crowd going crazy. A man, dressed in a button-down shirt, broke out his jazz hands and his lady companion swung her cardigan overhead along to the beat.

All their songs had a danceable quality to them. Even the rousing “Smash the System”, which had an acoustic cowboy twang opening slid into a fist-pumping chorus. Burgess flung his arms out as if he was addressing a group of protesters and the crowd roared back.

They are pioneers of the Madchester movement after all – psychedelic dance rock tunes characteristic of an eclectic music scene formed in Manchester between the late 80s and early 90s.

3_Mark Collins

The bass-driven “You’re So Pretty We’re So Pretty” showed off Burgess’ falsetto and a groove etched out by programmed drums on top of the live ones.

It was amazing to see so much actual movement from the crowd. From experience, a younger crowd would usually be preoccupied with documenting the entire show on their cameras or phones. This bunch had the sole intention of having a good time, and isn’t that the point of live gigs? The Charlatans had the air of musicians just performing for the benefit of a few (hundred) close friends.

The Charlatans may not have been a staple in many an UrbanWire reader’s music player, but after their debut Singapore show, we can safely say that they made a couple of new fans (including this writer) and taught some a thing or two about Rock N’ Roll.