Up the Shambles

Pete Doherty and Babyshambles
Rhythm Factory, January 9



Got into the gig last night at like 845, knowing (thanks to Angry Organizer man, who shall appear more later) that things were clearly going to begin late. Not shocking, considering it's Pete. Headed downstairs into the strangely cavernous and tiny venue, and got to the front, which was fairly surprising considering we were nowhere close to the front of the line. The weirdest thing about the entire gig was the barrier in front of the stage, which was about at throat height and made of old wood. Well, the crowd was unusual too. A surprising number of older people, some dressed in suits, mixed with the prerequisite hipster kids. But anyway.

Things were looking up when the openers actually arrived at 9. There were a couple of decent bands, one completely appalling one with a shrieking woman, then another decent one. That's four so far. After about three, everyone started to assume that Pete would be the next act, since Angry Organizer kept coming on stage, looking angry and holding his clipboard, and telling people they were only allowed to play one more song. Sadly we were mistaken. Even the ridiculously enthusiastic DJ and announcer seemed to be losing interest.

It all went downhill when act five, forever known as "Act with the Arrogant Singer Who Got All Their Stuff Destroyed" took the stage. People were getting annoyed by this point, having been standing and watching incredibly mediocre bands for several hours when they had been promised Pete. Arrogant lead singer couldn't seem to understand the crowd's marked lack of enthusiasm, even when someone threw their drink onto the stage and broke the cymbals. This encouraged him to flail around like he was Jesus/Ian Curtis with the mic stand, nearly taking out me and everyone else in the front row.

This band, when they finally left, was followed by some band neither Andrew nor I can remember, because we were probably delusional by then since everyone kept pressing forward more in anticipation of Pete, then these two dreadful guys who honestly weren't even playing the same song at the same time, then the final band, in which the lead singer distinguished himself by cutting his finger somehow during the first song and bleeding all over his guitar for the rest of the evening.

During the gap between the last two bands, Pete finally arrived. (At about 1, aka 'morning' in Doherty Time). He was sporting some white, lensless sunglasses and what may have been a barrette in his hair, we never figured it out. After the EIGHTH opener finally finished, having been cut off by Angry Organizer, Pete took the stage at 1:30.



He brought along Mik and Drew, so it was essentially a Babyshambles gig rather than just Pete solo, which was pretty awesome. I was front and center for the first half, and caught Fuck Forever, Time for Heroes, Killamangiro, Crumb Begging Baghead, There She Goes A Little Heartache and a few more, then moved back at the interval because I was really tired of being smashed into the barrier. The second half of the set had Albion, Delivery, Merry Go Round, and some lesser known but awesome Shambles songs. Pete and the guys were really in top form. He looked healthy (relatively so, it's Pete) and the playing was tight. Their set was a little short considering how long we had to wait, but it was worth it in the end.

As for Albion, it was one of the best songs of the night. Pete played it up a lot for the East End, probably because he and the Libs lived in Bethnal Green when they were starting out, and the crowd loved it. Really an amazing song live, and you can tell Pete gets into it so much. Fuck Forever and Time for Heroes were other obvious highlights, finally seeing a Libs song played live! And the crowd went ballistic for Delivery, which I was a little surprised by. It's a great track, but not their most obvious hit. The only things I hoped for were Loyalty Song and I Get Along (which I think Carl revives at gigs more often than Pete).

Highlights of the evening? Albion. Even though we'd been there for hours, the ceiling was dripping condensation all over the place, and Mik looked...rough, it was a spectacular moment. Pete drawing on the wall (Up the Shambles and a QPR slogan, which I don't think came out in pictures because he wrote in blue on blue), and last but not least, the moment when Angry Organizer appeared and saw screaming woman band. His eyes went massively wide in shock, and he turned from the edge of the stage and retreated to his lair in the back at near hypersonic speed. My feelings exactly, Angry Organizer.





Music today: Love on the Dole, The Libertines