When the term Britpop gets dug up, most of us think of the ’90s rivalry between London art-school grads Blur and working-class Mancunians Oasis, two bands whose music was as dissimilar as their upbringings. But there were plenty of other acts standing in their shadows — The Stone Roses, Elastica, Inspiral Carpets — who were obviously British, kind of pop and, by default, cast into the same one-size-fits-all category.
The Charlatans UK and Ride, Saturday, Feb. 11, 9 p.m., Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, ages 16 and older, ticket prices and availability at ogdentheatre.com
Add to that list The Charlatans UK and Ride, who were also considered shoegaze bands, because sometimes you just can’t win. The two bands have just embarked on their first co-headlining tour of North America, a 15-date excursion that will feature front-to-back performances of two classic albums. In Ride’s case, that would be their 1990 full-length debut Nowhere, while The Charlatans will reprise their 1992 sophomore album Between 10th and 11th.
Oddly enough, neither of those albums, when compared to the two bands’ other releases, performed particularly well on the U.K. charts. But both drew attention in the U.S., where The Charlatans’ “Weirdo” single climbed the alt-rock chart to No. 1 while Ride’s “Taste” reached No. 24.
As it turned out, The Charlatans would continue to be the more commercially successful of the two, which helps explain why Ride went off on a 20-year hiatus, during which time The Charlatans released no less than a dozen albums. Be that as it may, the current tour has been selling out major venues in New York, San Francisco and Chicago, so maybe Britpop — or shoegaze or whatever you want to call it — still has some life left in it, after all.