Babyshambles LIVE @ 02 Acedemy Newcastle 5.9.13

Pete Doherty.  What’s he all about then these days? As Sick Boy from Trainspotting might have said, “Had it, Lorst it”. Once a hero of mine his slow demise over the years has been both tragic and embarrassing. With that in mind I must admit that as I headed over to Newcastle for the Babyshambles gig I didn’t quite possess the same enthusiasm that I did for the same show 8 years ago. But that was then and this is now and with a well received new album out what I lacked in passion was made up for in intrigue.

Taking along my 15 year old female cousin I was playing the dad role which meant minimal drinking and toning down my natural “bell-endness”. A swift pint in the town beforehand brought some curious looks which had me paranoid that people had me down as a 70s TV celebrity type so I quickly supped up and headed to the Academy. Glad to be away from any accusation of noncing, thoughts turned to the main event, Mr P Do-herty (see what I did there?! Sorry).

Upon entering I was to be taken aback at how many people were there. Whilst not a sellout it wasn’t far off and proved my pre gig predictions of a small crowd to be utter bollocks. Catching the tail end of the bizarrely named, Brown Bear and the Bandits, it was clear the crowd was well up for it and seeing the reception they got on leaving the stage it was clear the warm up act had more than done their job.

Time for a quick pint before the band punctually dons instruments on stage at their allotted stage time of 9pm right? Well, not quite. Tension rose as the minutes ticked by and thoughts turned to reports of the band being an hour and a half late at a gig earlier in the week. Luckily for all of us the wait was kept down to a respectable 20minutes.

http://youtu.be/79Y-EHqZNQA

Starting with a blistering version of ‘Delivery’ the band sounded tight with Doherty’s voice was surprisingly strong. Taking off his guitar at the end of the song it was encouraging to see he had filled out a bit and whilst you could hardly describe his appearance as healthy, he looked in decent nick. Next up was ‘The Man Who Came to Stay’, a B side to ‘Killamangiro’ and one of the great lost songs of the early noughties. It’s soaring hooks and infectious chorus had the whole venue singing along.

Following up with a few songs off the latest album ‘Prequel to the Sequel’ they erceive a muted response by some however it’s clear that there are more than a handful of diehards in the crowd meaning the atmosphere never drops. Latest single ‘Nothing Comes to Nothing’ is greeted like a old classic but it’s the old favourites of ‘Killamangaro’ and the song ‘Babyshambles’ that really take the roof off.

When not playing guitar Doherty stalks the stage like a man possessed and was clearly enjoying himself. For all his faults even the most ardent of “hater” would be hard pressed to deny his charisma and stage presence which has the crowd eating out the palm of his grubby hands. Diving from the stage at one point created pandemonium amongst the masses and watching the struggle between the security trying to pull him out the crowd whilst the crowd attempted the opposite it was hard not to get caught up in the drama of it all.

Finishing on ‘Fuck Forever’ it was clear that there would be no encore and quickly referring back to dad mode I ushered my cousin out so we can beat the traffic. In the car she asked me what I thought. Being honest I had to say that it was better than Id expected, enjoying the old ones, buzzed off the crowd but the newer songs had left me bored for periods. Asking her the same question her response was a little more succinct, “he was fucking brilliant”. And who am I to argue to with a 15 year old girl. A generation removed and the cult of Pete lives on, and long may it continue.

Chrissie Harvie

@chrishardy1234