Birmingham, 28/11/07

From icBirmingham:

TROUBLED Pete Doherty has banned booze from his tour bus and is turning to Chinese meditation to get him back on the straight and narrow.
And it seems to have worked, as he put in a strong performance, proving just how talented he is.
There was no slurring, no late appearance or bad behaviour last night. In fact, Pete was being so good, he didn't even light up the cigarette hanging from his mouth.
The bad boy may have disappeared for the night, but the rock'n'roll entertainer was still there as he coquettishly won over the crowd with his silly Birmingham accent and boyish good looks.
Wearing black jeans and a jumper (the iconic hat stayed off until after the interval), Pete immediately shrugged off any worries of an Amy Winehouse-style stage meltdown.
For the next 90 minutes, Babyshambles were allowed to do what they did best before Pete's addictions, arrests and Kate Moss dramas got in the way.
His soft husky tones revitalised a cover of Culture Club's Karma Chameleon, intermingled with tracks from Delivery to The Blinding and Kilamanjiro.
Pete was so on the ball that he even changed the words to Down In Albion to "down at Digbeth Irish Centre" and gave a shout out to Birmingham's famous Mr Egg cafe.
The finale of anthemic Forever saw British flags drop from the ceiling above a sea of waving arms and reminded fans of this band's place in the Brit music scene.
For once with Pete Doherty, the music came first and there was nothing else to overshadow his abilities.
Afterwards, fans said they relieved to see Babyshambles pull out all the stops despite Pete Doherty's chequered past.
Couple Craig Keegan, a 26-year-old postman, and admin assistant Grace Richards, 25, from Bromsgrove, were delighted to see Pete Doherty perform.
Grace said: "Pete is back on form after all his problems and came out to give fans what they wanted, good luck to him."
Accountant Steve Richards, aged 27, said: "I was glad that Pete turned up as I didn't know if he would.
"After that performance, I think he is over the bad times and has come through it a better person. The future's bright, the future's Babyshambles."
Johnathon Gray, a microbiologist from Northfield, said the band had exceeded his expectations and added: "I love Pete - he is a hero in a hero-less world."
Mike Brinkworth, 27, from Solihull, added: "After the Amy Winehouse gig in Birmingham, I think a lot of people were worried the same would happen with Babyshambles, but Pete pulled himself together to perform brilliantly."
(Review by Alison Dayani)

Wembley part 3: The pictures

More here

Wembley part 2: The videos

Thanks a lot to theGizzard!

• Albion
• Music when the lights go out
• I wish (Mick on vocals)
• Side of the road
• Baddies Boogie
• Delivery

Wembley part 1: the reviews

• MTV
• NME
• Gigwise
• This is London

(I'm not responsible for wrong titles and so on)

Moisturisers, special guests and meditation

There's not much to tell about last night's gig in Bournemouth. The gig was moved to a smaller venue and that worked fine but reports talk of a nasty crowd, throwing things to the stage and generally behaving like idiots. Peter looked pissed off enough to leave the stage in a huff at the end of the encore (which was Fuck Forever, as usual). Setlist was identical to the Brighton gig, with Music When The Light Goes Out on acoustic guitar.

Now it's only a few hours to Wembley and the guys seem a tad excited (can you blame them?). Look what the lovely Drew has written in his blog:

Hello. I'm currently sat in the BIC production office waiting to play our fourth date of the tour, which finds us in Bournemouth. We played Brighton last night and Newcastle before that. It's been great so far. Dizzie Rascal and the Jing Jang Jongalongs have been on form too. Highlight of the set for me tends to be Unstookie-titled. When we get that one right it kind of sends me into a trance, like the music is moving in circles. Erm ... I know what I mean. Having Lord Large playing with us has been great, but he's off on tour with Squeeze. Terrible shame. Hopefully some youth called Shamus is coming to play tomorrow at Wembley. Wembley! Babyshambles? Wembley!? Who woulda thunk it?
Today I watched Mick apply moisturiser to his toothbrush and scrub his teeth for about two minutes before he realised. His face was a picture. On that bombshell... ta ra.

Drew

Bombshell? OK, there are talks of special guests tonight. Pat Walden it ain't (that's another story but now it's not the time for brooding). Carl Barat it ain't either (that's a third story). Kate Moss? I hope she's not. Mick Jones? Keith Richards? Johnny Marr? Buddy Holly? Time will tell.

Apparently Peter has become addicted to meditation (he took it from Adam). At least, that's what red tops say today (not worth linking).

The solo album again. There's a whole page in the new NME about it (Moz on the cover).

Have a special night everyone who's going to the show. We'll be waiting here, all alone...

The never ending soap of Pete's solo album

Another three months have passed and a new Pete-solo-album-on-the-way article has been published. Although this blog is only barely 4 months old we have already had this info in one of the first posts. Now it’s time for a relapse (oops), sorry, a reprise. The NME launched the news yesterday in the afternoon:
Pete Doherty is a quarter of the way through recording his debut solo album and plans to release it next summer, NME.COM can exclusively reveal. Three of the album's 12 tracks have been completed during secret recording sessions with producer Jake Foir. Foir told NME.COM: "We're recording it piecemeal between two studios in London. We go in for two or three hours at a time, usually at about two in the morning, and get stuff down. It sounds slower and more intimate [than Babyshambles] Pete's writing is more universal, rather than about personal experiences". Foir explained that a large cast of musicians will appear alongside Pete, including his Babyshambles bandmates, who play on the track 'Cuckoo'. South London band The Thirst, who visited Doherty at his Wiltshire home to demo with him, will also contribute, along with London rapper Klashnekoff. Although recording for the album is well underway, Babyshambles' label, Parlophone, could halt its release. Foir explained that the plan is to finish the album then present it to the label with a view to an official release, but he says that so far Parlophone have been unhappy about Doherty recording outside of their control. Foir was also able to reassure fans that, despite his heroin relapse, the Babyshambles mainman is "still on top form", healthy and enjoying life in rural Wiltshire. "I just spent a weekend with him - just me, him and the cats," he recalled. "He's out there in a 28-room mansion - it's very '60s-style and cool, I keep expecting Marianne Faithfull to come walking through one of the doors!”.

“THERE’S SOMETHING NEW ABOUT THAT DOCKERTY BLOKE!” screamed at this point the Sun’s news editor (who looks a lot like Alan McGee).
“What?” said the gossip column journo “Injecting heroin to a nun?”.
“NOPE! DOING SOLO ALBUM!!!”.
“What? With Karl Barrett???”.
“NOPE! WITH MARIANNE FAITHFULL!”.
“Who cares? She’s dead!”.
“NOPE SHE AIN’T! WRITE A PIECE! JUICY PIECE! NOW!”

And so The Sun published the news too…
FURY AT PETE’S SOLO PROJECT!!!!
PETE DOHERTY is recording a secret solo album inbetween trips to rehab.
He has been working on tracks at his “creative” Wiltshire den — but label bosses are livid as they want him doing songs for BABYSHAMBLES. The junkie is penning material with London rapper KLASHNEKOFF.

The news was also taken up by a site named earthtimes.

Jokes aside, I think a lot of people would be very very happy if this album existed for real and was going to be published next summer (followed by a tour??? One can only hope). But it looks like this is as probable as a Libertines reunion at this point (and I’m not talking Carl & Peter, I’m talking Libertines). Anyway, I bet that IF this album had to be released it would be something much more exciting than Shotter’s Nation (no offence to the other Shambles of course) and maybe it would restore a little more “faith” in Peter as an edge artist after his dubious 2007 antics. So my suggestion is: go on, Peter. We really want this album. Say a huge fuck off to record industry bosses and produce something amazing. I’m sure YOU at least have still the balls to do that.

Later with some news from the tour!

Brighton and more shambles

Babyshambles played Brighton Centre last night (photo by Mike Burnell for Flickr).

Setlist almost identical to the other nights plus Peter strumming Music When The Lights Go Out. "They were tight throughout" said Matt Shambles from FDB "The last encore was shambolic in truly brilliant way. Unbilotitled sounded as anthemic as Fuck Forever and surely must be their next single. I dont think it feels like an arena". Another poster to the Libertines official site confirms: "Not full (a lot of the seated area was curtained off) but it really was very good. Seemed to be the same set list as the last 2 nights but with Music When The Lights Go Out as an additional one at the start of the accoustic bit. Loved the acoustic bit (and the band really seemed to enjoy doing it). And Side of the Road was fantastic".

Setlist:

'Carry On Up The Morning', 'Delivery', 'Beg, Steal Or Borrow', 'Baddies Boogie', 'Unstookietitled', 'Side Of The Road', 'Unbilotitled', 'The Blinding', 'You Talk' , 'Sedative', 'Crumb Begging Baghead', 'Lost Art Of Murder', 'There She Goes (A Little Heartache)', 'Albion', 'Pipe Down', 'Killamangiro', 'Back From The Dead', 'Music When The Lights Go Out', 'Fuck Forever'

In addition:

• Peter is on the cover of French mag Rock'n'Folk (long article but in French. Anjali where are you?)
• There's a story about Peter banning alcohol on the tourbus
• Drew has gotten back to writing his blog
• Adam has launched another side project

The tour goes on to Bournemouth. Up the Shambles.

Sunday tips

• Pat Walden drama
• The Observer reviews the M.E.N. gig

Newcastle, and more from Manchester

While we are waiting for some photos or at least the setlist of last night gig in Newcastle, let's look at a few reports. Some people were astonished at the many empty seats, but almost everybody agree that it was "a good show". Peter talked about almost cancelling the gig due to voice problems. "...Pete said he wasn't goin to play fuck forever" reports Sean_Spaff from FDB "and the crowd all jeered and he was like "I can't man, it's too hard on ma voice"... followed by more jeers, so he plays Back From The Dead and then breaks into Fuck Forever".

"My favourite part of the whole gig" Sean says "was when the whole band just went to one corner of the stage and Drew picked up the cello, and Pete was on acoustic guitar and the band started playing songs like 'There she goes' ".

Spongebob says: "I thought they were amazing, its the first time i have seen shambles live.. I know it wasnt a sell out crowd but the atmosphere was still good and i have bruises on my arms off jumping into people. Their performance was really good and I loved the acoustic part of the show and when they played Fuck Forever at the end!"

The Daily Star has a piece about the Manchester post-gig shenanigans but it gets laughable at the end.

Unfortunately every time I google for Babyshambles news all I get is Wino and her drama.

Adam has given a rather bitter interview to a Nottingham journo. Maybe it was just the cold. Or maybe he knows something we don't.

Now I know who passed the germs to Peter!

No show tonight. A good chance to rest your voice, Bilo.

Setlist:

Carry on Up the Morning, Delivery, Beg Steal or Borrow, Baddies Boogie, You Talk, UnStookietitled, Side of the Road, UnBilotitled, Sedative, The Blinding, Crumb Begging Baghead, -(Acoustic) Lost Art of Murder (Pete Solo), There She Goes, Albion, -(Normal) Pipe Down, Killamangiro, Back from the Dead, Fuck Forever

Manchester, 22/11/07

First impressions on the opening night from people who were there. Small crowd, Joe Lean and Dizzee Rascal supporting (more positive reviews for the latter), no special guests, no Libertines songs, Peter and Adam in playful mood, scenography consisting of "old style english stuff such as old fashioned maxboxes covering the amps. On the screen in the backfround they had all sorts of old fashioned picture , with many newpaper cuttings and such from the war. It was really a good set and when they played Fuck Forever at the end about 6 massive Union Jacks dropped from the top of the set" (from Likely Laz of FDB Forum). Everybody seems to agree on a "a bit cold atmosphere".

Here's the NME review.

There's also a very irritating review from the Manchester Evening News but we are much more interested in reports from the boys and girls who spent their money and queued in the afternoon to get there rather than those from some snotty journos who were sent there by their chief to write a piece about something they don't give a shit about, OK?

Setlist!

Carry On Up The Morning, Delivery, Beg Steal Or Borrow, Baddies Boogie, Unstookietitled, Side Of The Road, Unbilotitled,The Blinding, You Talk, Sedative, Crumb Begging Baghead, The Lost Art Of Murder, There She Goes (A Little Heartache), Albion, Pipe Down, Killamangiro, Back From The Dead, I Wish, Fuck Forever.

The tour carries on tonight in Newcastle. Up the Shambles.

On the eve of the Arena Tour...

Let's have a quick round up of the latest.

Peter was in court yesterday to have his usual test (see photo above). He arrived sporting a cane and a black eye, mumbled something about not having a white (i.e. coked) or brown (i.e. skagged) Christmas and then launched himself in a hilarious defense of his friend Amy Winehouse and her hubby. The best line was: "I speak to Amy almost every day. She just wants her man back for Christmas. They are desperately in love". Spectacular.

Manchester is getting ready for the opening night. Oh Manchester so much to answer for.

A warm-up gig is rumored to be happening tonight at the Sunn Inn in Marlborough.

Up the Bracket is featured in the Guardian’s list of the 1000 albums to hear before you die.
‘The Libertines Up the Bracket (2003) Before they became a soap opera, the Libertines were the last gang in town, winning over sceptical hearts and spawning countless bands. Equally influenced by Chas & Dave and the Clash, their debut bears witness to the desperate beauty and battling British spirit of the fatally torpedoed ship, Albion’.

Adam Ficek suggested the Up the Shambles DVD is a bootleg and people should not buy it. That is, people who haven't downloaded it yet should not buy it. Ahem.

The sweet Adam is said to be dj-ing on New Years Eve at London's King College.

Both Peter and Carlos are out of the NME Cool List. The horror, the horror!

DPT's Nottingham date (supporting the Pogues) is officially confirmed.

Let's recap the Babyshambles Tour dates:
Manchester MEN Arena (November 22)
Newcastle Metro Radio Arena (23)
Brighton Centre (25)
Bournemouth International Centre (26)
London Wembley Arena (27)
Birmingham NIA (28)
Nottingham Arena (30)
Glasgow SECC (December 1)

Carl speaks from L.A.

A good spanking? Hmmmmm...

Short interview on the new issue of the NME (thanks to Linna for the transcription):

NME: Hi Carl. So you’re in LA recording the second Dirty Pretty Things album. How’s everything going in the States:
C: Great thanks. I’m really excited about making this album - it’s going really well, and I’ve found some good bars. There’s one called The Cock and Bull, and a dirty pub called the King’s Head. it’s really manky - just like an English pub. But last night we went bowling and ended up getting spanked with some rednecks, so I’m not feeling so good today.
NME Do you get homesick?
C: Yeah I miss England’s miserable weather. I’m not joking, I do. I like the passions you see in the seasons all year round - it’s a bit unnatural here - the weather’s always the same. Say Hi to Blighty for me. (Hi back from Blighty - Linna xx)
NME: So how’s the new album sounding?
C: We’re moving fast - we’ve done 20 songs. We’re not recording the album live - it’s the first time I’ve recorded like that. There’s some string effects. I think it’ll be easier on the ear, but by no means easy listening.
NME: Would you fancy playing an arena tour this time around, Babyshambles style?
C: Not really, I find arenas so impersonal. It’s a bit much for me.
NME Have you been in touch with Pete?
C: Not for ages actually, not since the Sgt Pepper thing (the pair covered The Beatles’ A Day In the Life for Radio 2 in June). His manager phoned me up recently and said he wanted me to write a musical with Pete. Pete was approached, so he wanted to see if I would get involved. It wouldn’t be a Libertines musical - it’d probably be a comedy. But I’m busy with the album right now. Maybe one day, it’d be fun!
NME If not musical-writing any plans for working with Pete again soon?
C: Maybe we’ll do something together, I don’t really know. I’m trying not to overshadow this album. Could we get together at a summer festival? Ha ha maybe, although I wouldn’t know about it until five minutes before it happened
NME We’ll hear more about the album soon but what’s the title going to be
C: Hmm maybe “this is where the truth begins”. Or possibly something inspired by last night’s events - Getting Spanked by the Yanks.

Two morning bits

• Legendary photographer Roger Sargent is set to be honoured for his work at a music industry awards ceremony in London tonight (November 20).The lensman will pick up the Outstanding Contribution to Music Photography gong at the Record Of The Day Awards. As well as being a regular contributor to NME and NME.COM, along with many other high-profile titles, Sargent also collaborated with NME.COM's Anthony Thornton on The Libertines book 'Bound Together'.
• Dirty Pretty Things are alive! It seems Carl's ensemble will play in Nottingham on 14 December, as special guests of The Pogues. Thanks to The Angel of Islington for this tip. More details will follow.

Q&A with Peter on the new Rolling Stone issue

"I'd be a liar if I said I'd never do [drugs] again," a sober Pete Doherty told Rolling Stone in late October. A week later, photos of him shooting up appeared in the British press, and he was set to enter rehab for the umpteenth time. "I can't make promises to anybody," he added. "But I know that today I'm going to be clean." The Babyshambles leader and noted drug enthusiast's brief sobriety — no crack, just pints of Guinness — seems to have done him some good, though. Shotter's Nation ("shotter" is Brit-slang for "drug dealer"), his second album with Babyshambles, proves that there were at least a few moments of clarity. The garage-y tunes — which bear traces of the Kinks, the Clash and the Who — are sharp, concise and compelling, a shock to Doherty himself. "I don't know how we got that vocal performance out of me," he says. "I'm quite proud of it."
What inspired your recent bout of sobriety?
I can honestly say that the reason I do drugs is not because of my childhood, or because I have self-esteem issues or resentments. It's purely because I enjoy it. Maybe I'm in denial. I think it reached a point where the negatives were outweighing the joys. So fuck it off for a bit.
Looking back on what you've been through, are you embarrassed?
I'm not gonna look back no more. It would break my heart, I think, if I looked back too closely.
You interviewed Paul McCartney recently for England's Observer. How'd that go?
I was dead nervous about meeting him. Because of nerves, I ended up putting my cigarette out in his drink. It wasn't a very good first impression, but we got on. He's down-to-earth.
I heard Amy Winehouse stopped by your cottage.
Yeah. She came out to the countryside with her husband, and we worked on a new song called "1939 Returning." We stayed up all night having a laugh. We're going to do something together. I love that girl — her music is absolute quality.
Who else is on that list?
I quite like 50 Cent. I think Julian Casablancas and Amy Winehouse are two contemporaries I envy. When I hear them, I think, "Oh, fuck, I wish I had written that."
What Shotter's songs are rip-offs?
"You Talk" was originally a copy of a certain Velvet Underground song. "Crumb Begging Baghead," that's a generic Sixties garage riff. For any music aficionados out there, if you just play E to G, with a cool hairdo, you can't go wrong. Check out [Texas psychedelic rockers] the Golden Dawn.
What are you listening to now?
I've been listening to Jimmy Cliff and skinhead reggae. I found this amazing Sixties garage compilation called Shindig, and it's got all sorts of early beat groups like the Kinks and loads of obscure Sixties bands. [Sings the Foundations' "Build Me Up Buttercup"] We'll try to rip that one off next.
Will you tour the U.S.?
I would love to, mate, if they'd let me in. I think they can overlook certain things if you can prove that you're going to make the American economy a few bucks.
What do you love most about America?
The girls, the alcohol and the old-fashioned guitars.

Pete Doherty Interview - Transmission - C4 - 17 Nov 2008

And now ladies and gentleman the interview! With Peter commenting the 11 year-old "Oasis-queue" video and confirming what we already knew. Of course.

Babyshambles - Delivery - Transmission - C4 - 17 Nov 2007

Delivery all the way!

Babyshambles - You Talk - Transmission - C4 - 17 Nov 2007

Let the Transmission feast begin! And thanks a lot to Goaty1boy!

Babyshambles "You Talk" Album de la Semaine

Here we go again.

A few nuggets

• Babyshambles on Transmission with T-mobile tonight on Ch4 at 0:10, together with Sons and Daughters, Scouting for Girls and Amy Macdonald (performance shot in Glasgow earlier this month).
• Drew's side project Helsinki played last night at the first date of the monthly event called Cazambles at The Old Queen's Head, Islington. John Hassal in the crowd.
• There's a You Talk review somewhere but I'm not linking it because it's shit (you know Dockerty's a junkie and Moss doesn't want royalties and all that crap).
• More words from Drew's "Beautiful Mouth" on the Arena Tour (once again from the NME): "...McConnell went on to reveal that Babyshambles’ forthcoming arena tour dates will see their stage decorated with old world war and Arcadian imagery, including some interesting stage props. It’s imagery from both world wars,” he said. “It’s more the romantic side of it, plus from the era 1913-1935. There’s going to be two big screens with images of the band playing. Then on the set there’s going to be large cigarette boxes where the monitors are. There’s a trinket market every Thursday at Spitalfields (in London) - we often head down there and buy old trinkets. It’s kind of inspired by that". Drummer Adam Ficek added that the band were calling the jaunt “Oh what a lovely tour!”...
• ChronicleLive has 2 pairs of tickets to giveaway to the BabyShambles gig at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle on Friday, November 23, 2007.

Canal Plus Strike Three

Peter's semi serious attempt at singing in French. Short but classy.

Drew on Biggles

Thanks to ToxicPixie (DPT forum) who signalled these words coming straight from Drew's beautiful mouth (actually from NME's printed edition of this week):

“I suggested getting Carl Barat to come and play on ‘ Time for Heroes’ [in the Arena Tour], but he’s not going to be around. I bump into Carl quite a lot and he’s a good lad. Every time I mention collaborating Pete’s always keen - he still calls him Biggles. We wanted to get Carl on “ Shotter’s Nation” as well, but he was too busy.”

"...Oh the wind, the wind is blowing,

through the graves the wind is blowing,

freedom soon will come

then we'll come from the shadows...."

Babyshambles on "L'Album de la Semaine" part 2

One more treat from France. This is Unstookietitled.

Babyshambles on "L'album de la semaine"

Video shot a few weeks ago in Paris for Canal Plus (French TV).

The Smoking Section and something else

The Rolling Stone has a short article about Peter in which he hints at a possible U.S. future tour:

"The Smoking Section spoke with Pete Doherty just before his most recent drug relapse and return to rehab. At that time, however, the Babyshambles leader was proudly clean and sober: “I’m still a bit wobbly,” Pete Doherty tells the Smoking Section. “Like a newborn horse. But I’m getting there.” Two weeks out of rehab — where he addressed his well-documented addictions to crack and heroin — the Babyshambles frontman is holed up in a quaint cottage in Marlborough, England, with his bandmate and sober-buddy, guitarist Mick Whitnall. Though Babyshambles’ new album, Shotter's Nation, is a fantastic work, recorded in the haze of the past two years, Doherty attests that “we’ve been more creative since we’ve been clean.” In addition to constant guitar picking, the two have been taking morning walks through the British countryside, where Doherty traded in his syringe for a fishing pole. “I caught two dogfish and three haddock,” Doherty says cheerfully. And even though Amy Winehouse spent a night with them, working on a new tune called “1939 Returning,” Doherty’s still on the wagon, gearing up for an arena tour in the U.K. “We’ve got to be on the ball for that,” he says. Then maybe America? “I’d come tomorrow if they’d let me in.”

Babyshambles have pulled out of the charity gig at Islington Union Chapel on November 20th. No explanation at all but it seems the Arena Tour will go ahead as planned.

Revenge of the Bilo! Carl is out of the NME Cool List but Peter enters at number 9.

On DPT front, Anthony "Stan" Rossomando has started an acting career participating to the first episode of the third series of The Mighty Boosh (the episode is entitled "Eels" and is aired on BBC3 on Thursday 15 November at 10.30 pm).

L.A. baratspotting: the mighty Carlos and the sensual Stan were spotted last night oustide The Troubadour club in Santa Monica together with Portland teenyboppers "The Hugs", whose gig they had just attended. Apparently Carl was chatting with the guys and then launched himself in a tip tap dance. All credits for this info go to Collie Tsunami and Dirty Pretty Things official forum's French star Anjali.

Something new

What you see here is the possible cover of You Talk. It looks very much like Delivery but instead of Peter running from the cops there's a posh couple at some posh event (probably Peter himself and Moss, since the latter has co-written the song).

Another shamblette, the lovely Drew, has started a new adventure together with his mate Luca C. According to The UK Mobile Report (???) it's a "new monthly event called Cazambles, organised and hosted by Drew McConnell from Babyshambles and Luca from the Cazals to showcase London bands alongside DJ sets. The band being featured is Helsinki, Drew McConnell’s side project under which he’s worked with a whole host of artists including the likes of Albus Hammond Jr (The Strokes) and Pete Doherty. Joining Helsinki is Luca C (DJ set / Cazals), Shauney (Sensitive Youth)". The launch party of this new event occurs Thursday November 15th from 7pm at The Old Queen's Head, Islington, London.

Another birthday cake...

... Of course for the Good Old Gary!!! Happy birthday man!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!!

Peterless and Carlless

With Peter back in rehab and Carlos still in exile, let's have a look at what else is going on in the Libertine world.

• We were a bit confused yesterday when we heard that Graham Coxon is recording with a supergroup featuring Drew, Supergrass and the Enemy for a charity record called Crisis X Factor. More confusion followed when we read the record was going to be completed today with the final collaboration of Dirty Pretty Strings. No, it's not a typing error. This band actually exists. If you want to know more about Dirty Pretty Strings click here (Carl is the one on the left, at the front).
• It seems Chester Bennington of Linkin' Park is a secret Shambles fan.
• The XFM's birthday gig featuring Babyshambles, originally scheduled on November 18, has been postponed to December 3 at King's College London.
• The power of frinkocracy! Although not listed among the acts originally proposed by the NME for the 2007 Cool List, as I write Carletto Barattolo has already jumped to number 3 in the readers list. Says the NME: "Another year and will Carl slip further from the Cool List or triumph like a phoenix from the flames? There’s hope for the future if he can make Dirty Pretty Things’ second album a classic". Great. Now stop voting Carlos, and get back to recording.
• Yeti are playing the 100 Club in London on 24 nov 2007.
  
  

Campaign of hate

We had just woken up yesterday, and while staggering around with a cup of coffee in one hand and the remote in the other (Morning News yawwwwn) we also found five minutes to switch on the PC. Who knows, some interesting message in the mail. George Clooney proposing, or George W Bush dying. No, nothing like that. Somebody selling some cheap Viagra. I ain’t no bloke, sorry. Then you google for news and suddenly your PC screen is invaded by this headline “LOCK HIM UP”. Great. Maybe the McCann mystery has been solved, or maybe better, somebody has proved at last that GWB and Osama are the same person. No, the “article” is from The Sun, and it shows a blurred image of someone resembling Pete Doherty, the leader of Babyshambles, doing something with his arms. The Sun wants to lock up Doherty. What crime for? Injecting something in his arms in front of a mobile phone, while somebody asks him about some Wembley tickets. Locking him up? This demands capital punishment!!!

Unfortunately, people are often so ill informed and naïve they tend to lend their ears to this kind of insanity. Peter-loyals (a new breed of fans who think everything Peter does is absolutely perfect) were left sincerely distraught in front of that video, poor souls. Many started questioning the genuinity of the clip, arguing that Peter’s recent tattoos, one in honor of his son, the other a mysterious “VIC” writing (Very Interesting Creature? Vomiting Inside Cars? Vain Immature Carlos?) were not showing. Plus, Peter looked skinnier than in recent appearances and his hair darker. So, the clip was surely old, and the Shambles management had to sue The Sun (what a threat). Then, the day started properly and the debate went more and more inflamed and practically totally invaded the forum of Babyshambles’ website French Dog Blues, and to a lesser extent, the Libertines’ official site..
“Actually, if you look closely at his neck, a bit of tattoo is showing…”
“Shut up! That’s the shadow of his collar!”
“No way the clip is recent. Where’s Babybear? We want him to take the writer of that lurid article straight to court!”. (Babybear is the nickname of one of the Shambles manager).
“Ahem, excuse me, before taking action and talking about – cough - *court* - cough – maybe we have to be sure the video is REALLY old because the outcome might be disastrous and…”.
“I have lost all my faith in Pete Doherty”.
“Now the NME is talking about it too!”.
“Fuckwits”.
“That green wristband is not a wristband, it’s a watch!”
And on and on and on and on…

Let me say I’m not laughing at those people at all, I’m only trying to see everything with a bit of humor. I was a bit saddened too when I realized Peter’s not ready to stay off trouble yet, in spite of all his claims, but of course the usual “what did you expect?” question did its best to shrug off all the “sadness”. What irks me most is the way The Sun and similar rags always come out as winners. On the same day a mag like the NME is coming out with “the first clean interview with Peter ever” (Jesus Christ!!!), the Sun tells us that no, it’s all wrong, Peter is forever a junkie and should be hanged. NME 0, The Sun 6. And we talk football here, not rugby.

I don’t know who the “culprit” is, the person who shot the video, or Peter himself, or the fans and their naivety, or Rupert Murdoch. The result is that the Babyshambles appearance at Jools Holland last night was cancelled and people are now afraid the Arena Tour won’t go ahead at all. We learn that Peter now has decided to go back to rehab and has just produced an official statement. It reads: "Peter Doherty would like to apologise to the medical staff, fans and wellwishers who have helped and encouraged his progress in fighting his addiction to heroin. His ongoing rehabilitation was a source of such pride to him that Peter and those closest to him thought that he was close to winning his personal battle with the drug. However, Peter sadly relapsed last week and is now looking to check himself back into a rehab clinic so that he can try to continue the hitherto excellent attempts he had made to break free of heroin.He realises that he has not only let himself down but has let down those who trusted and encouraged his efforts and he is filled with remorse for what he describes today as 'a stupid, stupid action for which I feel only shame'."

I hope Peter will stop feeling remorse because he hasn’t done anything wrong. And people who “lost their faith” maybe should find something else to put their faith in (if they really need to), maybe not a rockstar. What I want from Peter is good music, great records and exciting gigs. Being also a person with a strong willpower who manages to overcome addiction is a bonus, and it’s not important to me, only to himself. Come on Peter. Wise up. We want to see you on a stage soon. Fat and red haired, and with all your tattoos showing.
And beware of the man with the mobile, for heaven’s sake!!!

Peter in the new NME

While being alternatively tagged as "the ugliest man ever" ("when the world's ugliest boy...") and a "relapsed junkie", Peter also found some time to appear again in the NME for a brief interview. Don't try to read it in the photo or you'll go blind (I hope I'll be able to post the interview in the next days).

NME.com has also put up the You Talk video but we have seen it already.

Babyshambles - 'You Talk' music video

This time it's in full! Enjoy.

Watch You Talk Preview

30 seconds only. And you must have quicktime to watch it. But it looks cool.
Check it out.

Gonzo podcast with the Libertines

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More from the EMAs

Images like this, showing Peter looking happy and relaxed, with a bottle of beer in his hands (Corona in this case, my fave) are starting to look familiar. It was taken last night, at the much discussed Europe Music Awards in Munich. Babyshambles didn't win anything (they weren't even nominated of course) but, according to Gigwise, they "stunned the crowd". "Performing ‘Delivery,’ - the lead single from their second album ‘Shotter’s Nation’ - the band received a positive ovation from the large crowd in Munich both before and after the song". We, who followed the show from our little houses and our little TV sets, saw a strong rendition of Delivery, but failed to see any "stunned" watcher. Not that they had many stunning rivals in the other artists. Avril Lavigne is a pretty little girl who always sings the same song, My Chemical Romance only appeal to Teenagers, and Tokio Hotel are the last metheoritic semi-boy band. Amy Winehouse is a good singer but, poor girl, totally wasted (she even won something but did not seem to be quite aware of that). Peter said she was on White Russians, in the short interview previous to the show. He also said something about the new course of Babyshambles being "punctuality and professionalism". Judging from his face he was being tongue in cheek, but we know that behind his bollocks Peter always says a grain of truth. The Shambles presence at the Awards was enriched by those two Madden twins from Good Charlotte, who announced Peter's band as winner of the album of the year award (of course they weren't. Nelly Furtado was). I don't think it was a pisstake, also because the Maddens had just had their photo taken with Peter and co. and they looked all happy to meet them and all that crap. There's also an interesting photo showin' Peter backstage with Michael Stipe (everybody has seen it so I'm not showing it).

So, what else is to be said? I don't believe this little escapade in the mainstream showbiz did any serious harm to Babyshambles. All in all, they seemed to be quite at ease, maybe with the only exception of the lovely Drew. Of course Peter has been steeped in the showbiz for almost 3 years now (although for other reasons than music) but also his mates seem to be going much more self confident while the Arena Tour is coming closer and closer. What should I say, that all this has nothing to do with The Arcadiam Dream? Well, yes, sure. But people keep saying, move on. And we move on. On and away from Arcadia. Up the Shambles.

You can see the EMA's best bits, interviews, performances etc in the various MTV Europe national websites.

Babyshambles European Music Awards 2007

Later with something more from the EMAs!

Babyshambles in Munich

This is a photo taken last night at the MTV Allstars Night at the Circus Krone in Munich. I don't have the exact setlist yet but mlhaim from thelibertines.org, who was there, tells us "the setlist was a good mixture of shotters nation songs and older stuff" and the finale was "killamangiro, pipe down and fuck forever". Mlhaim talks of a good show only partly ruined by Mik's awful state.

The news of the day, though, is that tonight Pete is going to duet with Amy Winehouse at the EMA's main show, at least that's what The Sun claims, so I wouldn't give it too much attention. The only certain thing is that Wino has been confirmed as a last minute addition to the list of performers. There's also a silly snippet about Dave Grohl denying Peter access to his bar because he doesn't want to corrupt a newly cleaned-up bloke yadda yadda yadda.

We're getting in the MTV spirit of course, but only for tonight.

Rock on Shambles.