The boys in the band make a
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Having been profusely criticised by a variety of people for apparently ‘only making a comeback because they’re skint,’ Pete Doherty and Carl Barat were intent on proving their loyalty to The Libertines as a band. In a gig filled with unforgettable hits, high energy and crowd insanity, Doherty and Barat certainly proved to their crowd of 60,000 adoring fans that ten years of separation wasn’t enough to make them lose their spark. Doherty and Barat strolled onto the stage like they had never been apart, after appreciating the crowd and embracing each other in a boyish half-hug, it was as though there was never a single bad feeling between them. Carl Barat nonchalantly puffed on a cigarette, sporting the 2004 red military jackets that had been worn by The Libertines, attempting to show that nothing has changed. Pete Doherty, despite perhaps being a few pounds heavier than when they last performed together and proudly showing off his substantially greying hair, looked surprisingly well for a man who had spent the past fifteen years as wasted as physically possible. As the unmistakable opening guitar riffs of ‘Vertigo’ began, there was a sense of undisputable nostalgia that swept through the crowd and band alike. The crowd seemed to have an inability to contain their raucous excitement as they began pushing, shoving, jumping and just generally acting in a very fitting Libertinesish style of behaviour. The first song was over and the crowd for The Libertines were as appreciative and insane as ever. As the last riffs of ‘Vertigo’ faded into the opening of ‘Boys in the Band’ it was clear that the energy of the crowd, whether it was middle-aged men or girls in their teens, was there to stay. Only one and a half songs into the 24 song set and the performance had to be temporarily stopped to avoid crowd injuries. The irony of Pete Doherty suddenly becoming Mr. Health and Safety was a somewhat odd thing to witness, especially after his track record in the press. However, it was nice to see that both he and Barat had a genuine concern for their fans. |
After having to stop the crowd twice, it seemed that only an impromptu chorus of The Foundations’ ‘Build Me up Buttercup’ was a good enough sing-along to calm the crowd down in order to continue with the rest of the planned set.
From then on the gig ran smoothly, right up until people started climbing to the top of the delay towers placed in the crowd to get a better view of the band. The words ‘please get down from the delay tower’ replaced the colourful Libertines album artwork on the screens behind the band. Rowdy fans who had presumably spent a large majority of the day consuming large quantities of alcohol paid no attention to the on-screen messages. Pete Doherty once again took charge of the crowd by telling a charming anecdote about a Union Jack flag and a Welshman, then politely pleaded with fans to ‘get the fuck down from the delay towers before you hurt yourselves’ so they could continue with the show. The gig finally finished with an unexpected emotional rendition of ‘Albion’, a song by Doherty’s former band ‘Babyshambles.’ Lighters were held in the air by almost every hand poking out of the compact, sweaty, exhausted crowd and some were even so overwhelmed they were brought to tears. Of course, just playing a song and walking off of the stage would not have been a fitting exit for a band like The Libertines. Instead, Doherty, Barat, Hassall and Powell stood side by side, arms wrapped around one another, and managed to encourage a crowd of 60,000 people to join in with the chorus of the 'Hokey Cokey'. This surprisingly unified impromptu song was followed by a recital of Siegfried Sassoon's poem 'Suicide in the Trenches' which, in the words of Doherty and Barat, was recited in the name of 'individual liberty'. Perhaps this comeback gig wasn’t entirely plain sailing throughout, but after ten years of separation Doherty and Barat still performed to the best of their ability and shocked fans by doing so, especially as they both seemed relatively sober. The Libertines are back and according to a recent interview with Doherty they are ‘better than ever.’ I’m sure that fans, both young and old alike, are all waiting in excitement and anticipation to see what is in store for this newly re-formed four-piece next. |