A small, unassuming figure walked on to the stage in a paisley shirt and a leather jacket last Saturday at Band on the Wall.
He spent a few minutes setting up, refusing to make eye contact with any of the baiting crowd.
After this short ritual was over, he leaned into the microphone.
“Some of you may know me as Lloyd from Coronation Street, but that’s not me,” he said.
“Some of you may know me as Lister in Red Dwarf. But that’s not me. Or Robot Wars, or Takeshi’s Castle. But that’s. Not. Me.
“My name’s Craig Charles, and we play funk, and we play soul.
“THIS is how we roll.”
And then the room came alive.
For those who have listened to his three-hour long show on a Saturday night on BBC 6 Music, you already know that Craig isn’t the kind of person to sit behind a deck and just queue up songs one after the other.
He engages with the audience, and with the music, in a way never done by a DJ.
Whether it was climbing all over his deck, dramatically acting out song lyrics or just reaching out and touching the front row like Jesus curing those with a musical ignorance, Craig’s energy flowed out of him and into the crowd.
FUNK AND SOUL: Craig Charles performing at Band on the Wall
The crowd, perhaps surprisingly, was a healthy mixture of both old Northern Soul-ies and young club-goers.
It is nice to see young adults spending their Saturday nights in a club dedicated to funk and soul music, rather than living for the WUB-WUB-WUB of bass in usual nightclub fare.
Before Craig arrived on stage there was DJ Sam Redmore to get everyone in the club and settled.
He played more ‘dirty’ subgenres of funk and soul (described on his website as ‘Space Funk’) – each song blending seamlessly into one another and getting the atmosphere buzzing with excitement and energy.
Then came The Filthy Six – a British sextet lead by a horns section comprising of a trumpet and a saxophone, backed up by a talented rhythm section and some mean Hammond-organ playing.
With plenty of improvisation and again, lots of energy, people on the dance floor were quickly showing off their Northern Soul backdrops and shuffles.
Most Mancunians have probably been to Band on the Wall at some point in their lives, but for those of you who haven’t, it’s a must.
The venue itself is great. It has all of the advantages of a nightclub with none of the ‘getting drenched in strangers’ sweat’ which ‘youths’ seem to find so entertaining.
The setting is small enough for the acts to be intimate, but with plenty of room on the balcony or by the bar to chill and digest which of the amazing mixes you found the best.
In short, Craig Charles is one of the most energetic, engaging and above all talented DJs there is around at the moment, which for a man of 50, is a pretty impressive feat.
