There are enough column inches dedicated to poor gig etiquette, with intrusive filming regularly ranked amongst the worst offences. But when Tim Burgess flipped the script last night – repeatedly whipping out his phone to capture the audience reaction at the Roundhouse, or to showcase his co-players’ chops – it felt oddly endearing.
The truth is, whether championing independent artists on his record label O Genesis, or facilitating communal appreciations of the album artform with Tim’s Twitter Listening Parties during lockdown, nobody is as big a music fan as Burgess. Now in his 37th year fronting The Charalatans, and currently touring their 14th studio album We Are Love, the ever-youthful 58-year-old is patently as in love with his profession as ever. And as an audience faced with that kind of fervour, it was impossible not to be drawn in.
