The Charlatans, Royal Court, Liverpool

Burgess comes in triumphantly from the old

The Charlatans have been so notoriously afflicted by tragedy and evil luck – robbed by their accountant, losing their original keyboardist Rob Collins to jail then a fatal car crash, the current cancer of his replacement, Tony Rogers – that the concentration on ecstatic uplift in their music for more than a decade now is remarkable. It may also be the reason why, while their more fancied Madchester contemporaries the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays have disintegrated, Tim Burgess's boys still pull in full houses of adoring fans, as they do in tonight's atmospheric old theatre.

The band's openness to personal reinvention must be another factor in their longevity, evident both in the streamlined techno-funk pleasure-ride of new record Wonderland, and in Burgess himself. Having relocated to LA two years ago, he seems also to have lost the inhibitions of his English character, and become the pimp-rolling, superfly funk frontman of his dreams. Walking on to recent single "Love is the Key", with its typically euphoric combination of Stones rock guitar, gospel hosannas and crunching dance beats, Burgess's blaxploitation-era baggy cap, foot-wide scarf and desire to dance indicates the change in him. So too does the Curtis Mayfield-style, beseeching falsetto which, along with a new lyrical emphasis on sexual love, and his indulgence in almost camply feminine posing and strutting, suggests a freshly freed, fearless sexuality.

Fully half the 14 songs tonight are from Wonderland, which shows the band's belief in what Burgess later shamelessly names "the best album since Ziggy Stardust". Half the loyal crowd seem familiar with it, and it adds some of the band's best ever songs to the set. "A Man Needs to be Told" showcases Burgess's newly feminised sensibilities, with its girls-know-best theme, and a particularly delicate, gentle piece of singing. "Wake Up" combines a melody with hints of recent Dylan and the night's most pure and lovely Mayfield funk surge. "And If I Fall" makes the vulnerability in his new persona explicit, inviting the crowd to help support the song's stumbling protagonist.

The downside of this shoehorning of most of Wonderland into the set-list is that the sustained, communal rush of previous shows is forsaken. When a long acoustic riff coheres into first "oldie" "Tellin' Stories", and Burgess points to the heavens as the crowd sing every word, it's a pleasure for band and fans that's sadly under-exploited. Still, as Burg-ess looks at the cheering audience near the end with an expression of gratitude and relief, no one's really complaining.

The Charlatans play Norwich UEA tonight, and Bristol Rock tomorrow