 Pete
Doherty is back with his own solo material, only
this time he’s calling himself Peter. As
I arrive at the Academy, I wonder whether his
new, more serious name is a reflection of a new
attitude. Perhaps his days of drug-fuelled bad
behaviour are behind him?
We’ll have to wait and see: first up are
RedRoots, a 4-piece from London. They’re
an unusual choice to support Pete, but provide
a summery blend of rock with reggae and ska undertones.
They ooze effortless cool, and seem very much
at home playing to the gathering crowd.
Next up is a rabble of acoustic acts, made up
of various configurations of the members of Baby
Shambles, including Adam Ficek. During Adam’s
short set, Pete appears on the balcony above the
stage, and steals the show, simply by standing
there. Adam tries in vain to pull the attention
back to himself.
After a few more ‘acoustic interludes’,
Pete makes it to the stage. He actually looks
very dapper in his black suit and trilby, complete
with rose pinned on his jacket. Most of his material
comes from his new album, ‘Grace/Wastelands’,
but he throws in a few old Libertines songs as
crowd-pleasers, most notably ‘Can’t
Stand Me Now’.
 The crowd is wild throughout the entire set:
even during the slower, acoustic tracks they continue
to crowd surf and throw glasses of water and beer
amongst themselves and even aim at Pete himself.
Pete takes it very well though, and seems to have
his temper under control, with the exception of
a few moans at the crowd for not being loud enough.
The surprise of the night is the appearance of
La’s frontman Lee Mavers. He’s been
involved in recording with Pete recently, but
this is one of his first public appearances since
the break up of the band in 2005. During the encore,
Mavers shows his face once more, for a quick rendition
of ‘There She Goes’, before Pete returns
to the stage, to finish off the evening.
The sweaty crowd pours out of the Academy, still
chanting riffs from Pete’s songs. The excitement
he elicits is clear as a girl comes tumbling out
of the venue, sans shoes, and babbles excitedly
at us that Pete just gave her £15 for a
train home and a new pair of shoes. Pete’s
solo career looks strong, even if he hasn’t
totally escaped the shackles of his Babyshambles
band members. His reinvention has been semi-successful:
he’s certainly cleaned up his act, but he’s
still the mischievous rogue we’ve come to
know and love. And we wouldn’t have it any
other way.
RedRoots – 4/5
Peter Doherty – 4/5
Review By Helen Williams |
