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But despite it all, tonight, Babyshambles are fantastic. There is a cheeky sparkle in Pete's eyes that becomes him far more than the glazed-over look you’ll see on page 4 of the Daily Star. Of course, sobriety hardly becomes him either, and the Babyshambles circus remains as gloriously unpredictable as ever. Three songs in, the show is abandoned, then restarted because of a fire alarm, and later, during ‘Wolfman’, Pete is bundled off stage for encouraging a chaotic stage invasion (Featuring the hilarious sight of kids being chased Benny Hill style across the stage by heavy-set and heavy-handed bouncers). As for the music, the rackety, stumbling punk of songs like 'Do You Know Me' and 'Black Boy Lane' are not quite great, but remain effortlessly shambolic and thrilling. It's the other moments though that set Dohertys talent apart. He sways through Kilamangiro's 'I believe in love' refrain with an almost impossible fragility, and 'Albion' is shot through with all the misty eyed, battered romanticism of the Libertines finest songs. Pete singing of, 'gin in tea cups, leaves on the lawn and violence in bus stops', while the crowd mouth every word. With the house lights on, the band refuse to leave the stage, playing on until the gig ends with the mic's turned off and Pete leading the crowd in a mass sing-a-long of Libertines and Babyshambles classic 'What Katie Did'. After the Libertines imploded, Pete got shot into the ugly glare of the tabloids before he was ready, before the music deserved the massive attention that his character and his rock n roll lifestyle assured him. If he can get it together enough to make that great album, (and from the Specials-esque 'Sticks and Stones', to the Beatlesish new songs, there was more than enough here to suggest that he still has it in him), then we really can celebrate a one-off star. Whatever happens, we will always need someone like him. Someone that freaks out and upsets the conservative values of the Daily Mail and the Daily Star, someone that can reach out to an audience and eloquently and defiantly not give a f*ck. Babyshambles finished? Nah, with a bit of luck, they could just be getting started.
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