Throughout the pandemic, Tim Burgess has been hosting album listening parties on Twitter.

The concept is simple. At a set time, you press play on the selected album and the band then live tweets along to the record, giving fans an insight into the chosen LP.

Everyone from Oasis to Iron Maiden and Kylie Minogue to Paul McCartney has taken part.

However, there won't be a Tim's Twitter Listening Party on Friday, December 3 as it's back to the 'day job' for The Charlatans frontman.

The Charlatans will be playing Cambridge Corn Exchange that night as part of their UK tour.

They will be celebrating their 30th anniversary a year later than planned – the opportunity to mark 30 years being removed by COVID-19.

With a new best-of compilation A Head Full of Ideas, Tim Burgess and Co will be hitting the road to showcase all the best moments from a career spanning 17 top 40 albums and more than 20 hit singles.

Released on Then Recordings through Republic Of Music, A Head Full of Ideas sums up their remarkable progress from 1990 Manchester scene hopefuls to one of the UK’s most enduring and best-loved indie rock bands.

Over the years, the band have notched up three UK number one albums – debut Some Friendly, their eponymous fourth album, and Tellin' Stories – and four top 10 singles, including signature tune The Only One I Know back in 1990.

The rollercoaster highs have been accompanied by some shattering lows, any which one of them could have felled a less resilient band, from nervous breakdowns to near bankruptcy and the deaths of two founder members.

Original keyboardist Rob Collins died in a car crash just weeks before The Charlatans supported Oasis at Knebworth Park in 1996.

Somehow, they have not just carried on but adapted and transformed.

The classic Charlatans sound – driving Hammond organ, Northern Soul and house-influenced rhythms, swaggering guitars and Tim Burgess’ sunny yet somehow yearning vocal – is instantly recognisable.

And in spite of everything they have been through, their music is now more relevant than ever. The Guardian described their last studio album, Different Days, as “one of their best ever”.

In celebration of their new best-of album, The Charlatans' 30th anniversary winter tour begins at Limelight in Belfast on November 22 and finishes in Scotland at Edinburgh Corn Exchange on December 21.

Tickets are on sale, available from www.thecharlatans.net/gigs