IT's hard to believe it's 20 years since The Charlatans first burst onto the national consciousness.

Easily the most consistently brilliant of the 'Madchester' bands, Tim Burgess's crew have always embraced innovation and evolution.

So, where others broke up, stagnated, or nostalgically clung to the wreckage of the 90s baggy scene, 'The Charlies' have been a constant presence, going through ups, downs and changes in mood, but still sounding as fresh and urgent now as they did when debut Some Friendly was unleashed in all its soaring, Hammond-gilded glory.

Their gig at the Carling Academy was a remarkable experience, and easily among the best shows ever to have taken place here, or at the Zodiac before it.

Amazingly, it was not sold-out. Yes the £22.50 tickets were pricey, but they were cheaper than those for Weller's snappy and distinctly underwhelming performance a week earlier, which did sell-out... and for two nights running.

Ah well!

The show coincided with the release of the band's new album You Cross My Path, which, perhaps surprisingly for a band of this vintage, is very, very good indeed (even the sage-like Alan McGee has dubbed it the band's best album in years) .

And, this being a gig to promote it, we were treated to some awesome stuff, with the kind of songs that take off the top of your head - a combination of pounding guitar, spiralling keys and Burgess's lilting vocals.

Highlights from the new album were the thumping romp of Oh! Vanity, the angsty, heart-racing Bad Days and title track You Cross My Path - airy pop with a dark-ish underbelly, all married to Martin Blunt's chunky bass and Tony Rogers' swooping Hammond chords.

The first big cheers came for the classic - Blackened Blue Eyes, three songs in. The response clearly delighting an initially awkward looking Burgess, who was resplendent in a bizarre jet-black bob - looking like a cross between a mop-top Beatle and Andy Warhol. A most curious barnet indeed.

Tim warmed to the occasion though - feeding off the energy of the knot of hardcore fans flailing their arms around at the front.

The atmosphere crackled as the lads, now as much a Black Country outfit as a Manchester band, belted out one euphoric crowd-pleaser after another - One to Another,, Love is the Key, and a snappy, swirling The Only One I Know, still sounding as fresh and urgent as it did at the tail end of the 80s.

Always a great festival crew, it was a humbling experience to see one of the most understimated British bands of all time, still showing the new breed of skinny strutting whingers how it should be done.