Babyshambles - Southampton Guildhall (From Daily Echo)

Babyshambles - Southampton Guildhall

12:58pm Wednesday 16th December 2009 in

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Pete Doherty brought his latest Babyshambles line-up and a bounty of brilliant new songs to a lively Southampton Guildhall last night.

Originally a sideline to his original band The Libertines, the indie rock outfit looks set to be around a lot longer yet as they road-tested some well-received new material from their forthcoming third album.

Arriving on stage bang on time after a three band warm-up, rock’s bad boy was on good behaviour, taking modest sips of his favourite tipple Guinness, as they launched into tracks from the band’s first two albums and catalogue of top-ten hits.

First single, Delivery, with its punchy, garage/ punk sound, completely ignited the crowd as they punched the air, pogoed and sang along to the chorus.

With spirits rising and missiles, including bottles, flying I had to duck to avoid being hit by a bottle of Becks. But the mood on stage remained good throughout even though by cranking up the sound it was often difficult to hear Doherty’s lyrics which is a shame as the poet’s heartfelt words are always worth hearing.

The raw, off-the-cuff style of this semi-chaotic show and the chat amongst the band between songs that suggested they were making it up as they went along, made it feel at times as if we were sitting in on a jamming session. A refreshing change to many of today’s bands with their over-produced formulaic, commercial hits.

Hilary Porter