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Live review: Babyshambles

‘I have seen Pete Doherty play live. I will die happy.’ Or so I might have replied if you’d asked me to describe my thoughts about halfway through Babyshambles’ gig in Leamington Spa on Saturday evening. The gig had got off to a good start so far as I was concerned simply through the fact of the band’s attendance. I had learnt earlier in the night that Doherty had considered axing the whole tour the evening of the band’s first show because he no longer feels he needs gigs to attract women. This had not reinforced my already wavering confidence in the man’s professional integrity, so I was distinctly relieved when he entered the stage punctually and apparently (relatively) soberly at 9pm.

The band’s opening salvo was undeniably impressive. Highlight of the new album ‘Nothing comes to nothing’ sounded fresh and intense, whilst classics ‘Delivery’ and ‘Carry on up the morning’ retained their old spark. The band’s playing style was as satisfyingly shambolic as ever, the feeling that they were only just holding things together coming across as an exhilarating and carefully constructed performance rather than an omen of impending disaster.

Seven or eight songs in, however, things began to drop off. When played together live, it becomes depressingly apparent that the majority of the songs from the band’s new album do not stand up to their previous material. Doherty’s work has always and often successfully borrowed from that of other artists, yet the band’s new songs are derivative without offering anything new. ‘Penguins’, for example, sounds like a hammy rip-off of Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’, ‘Dr No’ provides a sort of generic ska , whilst ‘Fireman’, worst of all, sounds like a lesser band’s attempt to write a song in the frenetic style of early Libertines classics like ‘Mayday’.

The poor quality of the songwriting was compounded as the set progressed by Doherty’s increasing drunkenness. Had this led to an implosion like those in previous of Doherty’s live shows this would at least have provided an impressive spectacle. Instead, the result was simply a failure to adequately engage with the audience, leading to a banal and unfocussed performance. The set was saved somewhat towards the end by a more engaging rendition of ‘What Katie did’ and a blistering performance of ‘Fuck forever’, but the enjoyment here was ultimately bittersweet, given the knowledge that these songs are now nearly ten years old.

In summary, it is hard to shake off the feeling that Pete Doherty’s star is waning. When on form Doherty remains a compelling performer. The prevailing impression on leaving the gig, however, was of an increasingly mediocre talent trading on past glories. 

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