Bank Holiday weekend traffic and speed limit zones on the motorway to deal with and running late, I was also thinking is this going to be a wasted journey, because in the past when Pete was in The Libertines he had a tendency for not showing up. Also, there were worries that Pete might not be playing guitar due to an accident last Monday which ended up with a stay in hospital after walking his two huskies and one picked up a hedgehog and when he retrieved it from the dog’s mouth it pierced his skin and his hand got infected. Now this made the headlines in all the press, but on arrival to the o2, it was nice to see Pete hanging around by the tour bus with his hand heavily bandaged but ok.
So the anticipation for Pete and the band to hit the stage was building and rightfully so as Pete and the band walked out to a loud cheer from the audience and went straight into the cheeky little number “All At Sea” off The Puta Madres 2019 self-titled album. It has a really stripped back sound and a mellow intro was a subtle way to start the set and also he was playing the guitar with no issues.
It was also so nice to see that with Pete’s past history, which I’m not going into, he looked and sounded amazing. With his unique vocal ability, he has always had that slurry sound which makes Pete, Pete haha. You still have that sound but if you listen to the Puta Madres Album that’s how it sounds live so tonight the o2 was graced with a really focused performance from the whole band.
The fourth song on the set “Who’s Been Having You Over” off the album had people singing along which was really nice to hear due to the album being so fresh. As the song came to the end they just all froze like mannequins on stage for 15 seconds to an almighty cheer.
Also performing his own songs like “I Don’t Love Anyone” (But You’re Not Just Anyone) and “Kolly Kibber” got the crowd going and also with “Ride Into The Sun” (Velvet Underground cover), it was so nice to see Pete busting out the harmonica from time to time. He can knock a tune out on that for sure. Petes on stage persona with things like staring into the crowd, throwing a drink into the audience, also his slow walk around the stage with his microphone stand over his shoulder and also throwing his guitar to his guitar tech a good 8 meters (well caught Sir), makes his all-round stage presence an indie rock icon for sure and that’s a fact.
The whole night was full of amazing musicianship by all members with them also doing little jamming sessions in the middle of a few tracks.
At one point someone shouted stop using your bad hand, so he said “you wanna see something horrible” and took the bandage off and showed the wound to an eeerrrggghhh in the audience, quite hilarious. He said the physiotherapist said the best thing to do is use it. And cracked on with the next song, true Rock N Roll!!
Well after a 50-minute set I think the drummer came in a bit wrong or something so Pete stopped and started the song on his own and then the band joined in and it went smoothly. It didn’t affect the performance in a spectator way it’s just one of those chaotic moments you expect at a Pete Doherty show. So after that, Pete went off saying he’s gonna give the band a good talking too. So he went off stage and it was the longest wait I have ever witnessed. A few audience members walked past me saying that better not be over, who knows? Was it scheduled and where they come back on ???
Twelve minutes past in total. Then the door slightly opened and the crowd gave a warm cheer as the band and Pete re-emerged being accompanied by Petes two Huskie dogs on stage, casual as anything just walking around whilst the band finished the set with The Libertines classic “You’re My Waterloo” and a couple of Babyshambles songs “Albion” and ending on “Fuck Forever”. He went to walk off stage without saying anything but then turned around and came back and thanked the crowd for all their support over the years and for embracing his new venture. Then he threw the microphone into the audience, called his dogs, then walked off.
