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Charlatans perform on island fort

Indie rockers The Charlatans have played an exclusive gig on a tiny fort in the middle of the sea as a warm-up for the Isle of Wight Festival.

Tim Burgess and Mark Collins played a 30-minute acoustic set on Spitbank Fort in the Solent off Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Guitarist Mark Collins told show organisers Absolute Radio: "I mean we've done stadiums, we've done churches, we've done back gardens, and now we're doing a Napoleonic fort in the middle of the Solent. All part of the repertoire."

The pair played tunes from their 1996 acclaimed album Tellin' Stories during the set.

Burgess said: "We did a series of shows around the first album because that was 20 years old then, but we couldn't wait for Tellin' Stories to be 20 years old so we did it for its 15th-year anniversary. It was quite emotional and all the songs have kind of certain things attached to them. I think it's good for the band to be able to celebrate a moment in time with this gig in the middle of the sea.

"We're on a tour of the islands right now: this today, Isle Of Wight Saturday, Guernsey on Sunday and then the Isle of Man."

The Charlatans will go on to perform at The Isle of Wight Festival which is being headlined by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band.

Festival-goers trying to reach the site at Seaclose Park, Newport are facing long delays as mud caused by heavy rain led to parking and access problems at the car parks. The tailbacks led to ferries having to suspend their services because of the backlog of traffic.

Spitbank Fort, which took 11 years to build and was completed in 1878, was one of three forts built in the Solent to repel a possible invasion by Napoleon in revenge for the defeat at the battle of Waterloo.

The fort, which can only be reached by boat, has recently been converted to a luxury venue featuring champagne bars, roof-top hot tub and sauna.

Source: music.uk.msn.com
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