LIVE REVIEW : TIM BURGESS / LAMBCHOP AT THE BARBICAN 23/06/2013

I must admit I had a very limited lnowledge of tonight's two acts repertoire when I attended this gig. I have one measly Lambchop LP and I had never listened to anything put out by Tim Burgess or his band The Charlatans. Nick Wheeldon, mastermind of Paris Garage combo "Os Noctambulos"(shameless plugging : https://www.facebook.com/os.noctambulos?fref=ts) convinced me that he was a night not to be missed so I purchased a ticket.
The Barbican is quite an impressive place, spotlessly clean, it gives the impression of being teletransportated back to the seventies when the venue opened. The concert hall is all seated so it's a bit sedate for a rock gig but ideal for a band like Lambchop that requires a lot of attention from it's audience as they play very quietly. The Evening was billed as a collaboration between Lambchop and Tim Burgess with equal stage time provided for both bands.

Lambchop was on first at 7.30pm and played what was billed as a "set of classics" (Best of luck to the guy who might get saddled with compiling a Lambchop best of...).  As I said earlier they play very quietly, Kurt Wagner's guitar is so low that it's almost inaudible. Kurt Wagner has some funny exchanges with piano player Tony Crow. Tim Burgess comes to join on one song, sitting on top of one the monitors while duetting with Wagner. This gives Wagner the occasion to give the audience some insight on his friendship with Burgess and how they had met. Their set finished at 9pm and after a short fifteen minute break, Tim Burgess came on stage with his 4 piece band let by Charlatans guitar player Mark Collins (I wouldn't mind him lending me his Gibson Jumbo...). I must admit I came to the gig expecting to enjoy Lambchop's set the most but came out of it having like Tim Burgess's one even more. The gig was indeed as special one as Burgess was joined by a string quartet on a few numbers (with only Mark Collins remaining from the band) and Kurt Wagner reciprocated by duetting with Tim on one song (pianist Tony Crow joined for a few numbers too). Two female singers joined on backing vocals for a punchy version of the album's single "White". After Tim Burgess finished his set. Both bands came back on stage to perform Lamchop's "Up with People" and an anthemic version of "A Gain" from Burgess's latest album "Oh No I Love You". Truly great night of music which lasted for almost 3 hours.