Over the past half decade, Pete Doherty has been on a redemption arc that would have seemed highly improbable 10, 15 or any number of years since his early days as indie’s most polarising troubled poet - quill in one hand, crack pipe in the other. Now off the hard stuff and relocated to rural France with a young family, even his recent tenure back in the arms of The Libertines has become almost wholesome. Cast an eye over their massive Pyramid Stage crowd at Glastonbury this year and you’ll have found families, kids on shoulders, and jolly groups of mates; the sort of merry all-ages gathering fit for a beloved musical institution rather than a man who must have singlehandedly paid the British paparazzi’s mortgages for the best part of the ‘00s.
Against all odds, Doherty is thriving. But Babyshambles… well, Babyshambles were always different. The singer’s post-Libertines outfit - formed as a direct riposte for being kicked out of the band due to his escalating drug problems - their story was always steeped in something darker. Upon announcing their reunion, Doherty stated that, for years, himself and guitarist Mik Whitnall had been forcibly kept apart for fear that even being in the same room would derail both their sobriety journeys upon impact. The band’s first guitarist Patrick Walden passed away earlier this year after a troubled history of his own; tonight, his image adorns the backing screen - a touching tribute but also a reminder that the story could have ended very differently for some of the other musicians on stage too.
