Few bands wear their chaos as proudly, or as productively, as Babyshambles. Disorderly they may be, but they’ve always walked the fine line between genius and self-destruction. It’s this tension that keeps people coming back, even after the years of collapse and comeback.
Although it was a cold December night in Leeds, the air inside the O2 Academy was warmed by the crackle of the electric atmosphere, waiting for Babyshambles to step back into the spotlight.
From the off, the room was heavy with anticipation. Coats off, pints raised, conversations fizzing with the hope that the night was about to go off. When Peter Doherty eventually ambled into view, mischievously saluting the crowd with his cane, the band was met with a roar that felt a bit like adoration tinged with relief! Doherty even jokes: “We are the very dependable Babyshambles!”.
What followed was a set that swaggered for 90 minutes or so. Babyshambles seem to thrive under the appearance of chaos. The band move around languidly but they’re pretty tight considering how sporadically they’ve been together over the years. Doherty stalked the stage, sometimes like a ringmaster, sometimes like he wasn’t 100% sure where he was headed. But that’s kind of the point. Undeniable lyrical genius wrapped up in a dangerous level of chaos. The crowd loved it – it’s exactly what they came for.
Choruses were sung back with enthusiasm and with unfettered joy. 20 years on, Albion – from their debut album – still has the weary beauty that it had on that record. The jangly struggle between hedonism and exhaustion in Fuck Forever set things alight in the room, sweaty and euphoric.
Doherty, mercurial as ever, lurched between poet and provocateur, half-mumbled asides to the band and amused smiles at the devoted crowd swirling in front of him. It’s this unpredictability that still defines the Babyshambles live experience – the sense that anything could derail at any moment, and that’s precisely why it never does. Ever the knowing showman, Peter still effortlessly commands the audience. They never take their eyes off him, as he walks, conducts and twirls his trilby atop his cane.
There are beautiful moments in the show. Albion is dedicated to Doherty’s sister, while there’s a seamless segue into The Stone Roses’ Waterfall, a tribute to their late, great bass player, Mani. We see images of Amy Winehouse, drummer with Babyshambles “for about…20 seconds” – no longer with us, or the band, but clearly still holding a place in Doherty’s heart.
Characteristic chaos comes with the end of the show. Right on the cusp of curfew, Doherty reappeared, and with microphones and amps off, gave us a cover of Twist and Shout, followed by the brilliantly vulnerable What Katie Did.
By the time the house lights crept back on, the Academy felt wrung out. Sweaty, emotional, definitely drunk, but also uplifted. Babyshambles may never offer polish or precision, but they deliver something far more special: honesty in all its messy, contradictory glory. On this December night in Leeds, that was plenty.
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