The Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess formed a rock supergroup with members of New Order, Mumford & Sons, The Vaccines and The Pretenders on Friday (18Oct13) to pay tribute to his late bandmate Jon Brookes.

The gig at London's Royal Albert Hall boasted performances by Liam Gallagher, Manic Street Preachers' James Dean Bradfield, and the surviving members of The Charlatans, but it was an early set by Tim & Friends which got fans chatting excitedly as Burgess recruited New Order's Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert, Winston Marshall from Mumford & Sons, Freddie Cowan and Arni Arnason of The Vaccines and James Walbourn from The Pretenders to join him onstage for a special jam session.

Explaining how the supergroup line-up came together, Burgess told the audience, "I asked The Vaccines, but the singer was on holiday. I asked New Order, but the singer was on holiday. That wasn't going to stop us, so I said I'd sing."

The band covered New Order's Love Vigilantes and The Vaccines' Melody Calling, before wrapping up with Joy Division tune Love Will Tear Us Apart.

Burgess later returned to the spotlight to play with The Charlatans, and they had a special guest stepping in for Brookes - former The Verve drummer Pete Salisbury.

Speaking before the gig, bassist Martin Blunt told NME.com, "There was a tour when Jon was ill and wasn't going to be able to play. We asked who he wanted to replace him, and his first choice was Pete Salisbury."

Brookes, a founding member of the band, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2010 and although he initially recovered enough to rejoin the band, he relapsed and died of brain cancer in August (13), aged 44.