This string of December appearances from the infamous four-piece appeared quite surprisingly amongst the other pre-New Year tours, also surprisinggiven that Peter Doherty had been playing solo not that long ago. Added to this is that Babyshambles aren’t just back, but back with a bang and some quality new material. Whoever thought that Babyshambles would slip away amidst rumours of a Libertines reunion speculate are proven to be very much wrong, Babyshambles still have a lot of life in them yet (even if Peter did suffer from a heart attack earlier in the year). Even prior to the gig I was filled with an excited tension as to how the night would unfold; having seen Peter play twice before on his own, in even more intimate settings, I was questioning whether the rest of the band would detract from his overwhelming presence on-stage or whether their talent would drastically add to the upcoming night of wonders. Other than this, rumours that Mr Doherty had been arrested in Berlin the previous week allowed the ubiquitous question to be asked, “Will he even show up?”
But show up he did, in his almost trade-mark trilby combined with a particularly dapper suit, and put on quite a performance. They opened with an emphatic “Albion” and a devastating “Delivery”. After a couple of songs any doubters in the audience must have been turned because the room was thriving off Doherty & Co. in a performance which at times was reminiscent of the early Libertines days of live music at its most raw and pure. “Pipedown” was one of these moments: the audience sang in perfect harmony, the simple and overpowering chorus “Oh, Paddy put the pipedown!”, employing a truly euphoric atmosphere. The appearance of a Libs’ classic “Time for Heroes” almost tore the roof off the place: Pete preaching “Did you see the stylish kids in the riot?” was memorable in the riotous room with himself, Mik, Drew and Adam being the most stylish “kids” you will ever see; they owned the stage with such aplomb that there is no doubt that this fire’s still burning, and it will be for a long time to come.

Throughout the gig it was clear to see that nothing had altered Pete’s humour with him shouting “good evening Manchester” to a room full of Liverpudlians, and his devotion to QPR was also shown through him singing some of his beloved clubs chants. “Shotter’s Nation” tracks stole the show however, “Pipedown”, “Unstookie titled” and “There She Goes” were greeted with rapturous applause, however “Baddie’s Boogie” proved to be one of my personal highlights through its raucous chorus behind chirpy guitar riffs and harmonica licks. As is typically the case, the encore was the epitome of the night. It consisted of one song: “Fuck Forever” and it couldn’t have been any better; Doherty was on form as he unleashed this torrid tempest on the crowd and by the end everyone had given it their all. The vagaries of live music can sometimes potentially ruin a night, not this night though, the ‘shambles were different, they created an Albion of their own, middle aged men were crowd surfing, one lad was wearing his shirt backwards, some weren’t wearing any at all, people were smoking in the crowd (as too was Peter himself); the entire audience was united through their love for Babyshambles and in the end it was essentially gigging perfection. I salute Doherty for remaining to be a truly talented poet and artist ever throughout his controversial life because as far as I’m concerned not many can touch him in this business.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Review by Alex Duncalf