After surviving a chaotic reign as the king of Camden during the height of indie sleaze and swapping heroin and crack for cheese and saucisson, British rock icon Peter Doherty has recently had fans worried for reasons that would’ve seemed unfathomable 20 years ago. Health scares such as a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, the need for orthopedic shoes, and warnings from doctors that his toes could be amputated have led Doherty to claim that he was “healthier on heroin.”
That being said, it’s with some relief I can write that the 46-year-old cuts a leaner figure as he arrives on stage in a trademark trilby and cravat for the Oldham date of his ‘Anywhere in Albion…’ solo tour. Armed with a Dylan-esque neck rack harmonica and a battered acoustic guitar, the Libertine delves into his distinguished back catalogue of odes to romantic visions of a bygone Victorian England and treats fans to some of his most beloved work.
A duo of ‘Horrorshow’ and ‘Music When The Lights Go Out’ get the night off to an electric start as the increasingly lairy Doherty faithful dutifully shout every word back to him. A special request for ‘You’re My Waterloo’ continues the Libertine’s centric start and sees Katia, Doherty’s wife, take up duties on the keyboard. ‘Felt Better Alive’, the lead track from Doherty’s forthcoming album of the same name, sees some die-hard fans recite the new song’s introspective lyrics word for word. ‘Calvados’, another new single, is quintessential Doherty that displays atmospheric melodies fitting for Oldham Whittles’s intimate setting.
The singer removes his suit jacket to reveal a white England shirt and lulls the audience with ‘Night of the Hunter’, the first track played from the Lib’s most recent album, All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade. ‘What Katie Did’ livens the tempo before merging into ‘Sheepskin Tearaway’ and then looping back into ‘Katie’s’ recognisable “shoop-shoop, shoop de-lang-a-lang” chorus to finish.
“Hold them up high, babe,” Doherty tells Katia as she walks around the crowd exchanging tenners for a copy of On Strap, Pete’s newly established fanzine. Cashless and with no card machine in sight, I miss out on one – though if you’re ever in need of a writer, give me a shout, Peter.
Despite the absence of The Libertines co-frontman, Carl Barat, ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’ is, as always, an agonizingly heartfelt gem to hear live while ‘The Boy Looked at Johnny’ receives a new lease of life as an acoustic rendition. From one of the oldest songs on the set to the newest, ‘Pot of Gold’, the unreleased quasi lullaby to Doherty’s young daughter, gives fans another taster of his upcoming album.
“Lisa, is it alright to smoke? Can I have a fag on stage?” Doherty asks the venue owner before sparking up a Marlboro red. Through a cloud of smoke, he turns to the audience and wonders aloud if there is anyone at the gig against their will. A few hands go up, and Doherty strikes up some banter with Ashley, a young lady on the front row attending with her boyfriend, and proceeds to talk her through the next track, ‘Death on the Stairs’, incorporating her name into the chorus. It’s a moment that exemplifies the singer’s effortless charm, humour and on-stage ease.
After a short intermission, Doherty arrives back on stage and, ever a man of the people, swaps his shirt for an audience member’s flat cap. “I’ve lost a bit of weight, so I don’t mind taking my shirt off,” he quips to a chorus of chuckles, yet he’s not wrong – out of the five times I’ve seen him over the last eight years, it’s probably the healthiest he’s looked.
Members of support band GANS jump on stage for a rowdy, ramshackle rendition of fan favourite ‘Time For Heroes’ and the instantly recognisable ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’ before things come to an abrupt end. At just over an hour, Doherty provided a short but memorable set that leaves everyone hankering for more. Half expecting him to return to the stage, the crowd remain stationary, and chants of his name echo around the venue as he’s spotted in the wings – unfortunately, it’s to little avail.
While the omission of Babyshambles’s songs was disappointing, and it was odd that ‘Albion’ didn’t get an outing, especially as the tour is named after the track’s chorus, Doherty played a blinder and expertly melded old and new material to repeated success. It’s always nice to escape the city for a gig, and my night at Oldham Whittles felt less like attending a rigidly arranged performance and more like a spontaneous drunken celebration with friends.
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