Recent years have seen indie bands reuniting in droves. Still, few have carried the same electric anticipation as Babyshambles’ return after 11 years away from the main stage.
Their voyage to Yorkshire comes as part of a 17-date tour, 20 years on from the release of their debut, Down In Albion. Though not explicitly an anniversary tour, the reunion was born out of a desire to quash the “unfinished business” the band had since going off the radar, with the announcement following a year of renewed activity from frontman Doherty, between The Libertines and his solo venture. With the passing of guitarist Patrick Walden in June, the tour inevitably carries a deeper emotional weight – serving as a moving tribute to their friend and creative force behind many of the band’s biggest hits.
Joining them for their Leeds stopover were Max Bianco, Lowinsky, and Cucamaras – a solid primer for the long-awaited main act and a continuation of Doherty’s tradition of championing emerging local and international talent at his shows.
With Lowinsky’s frontman sharing that he started writing music because of the London-formed foursome, it was no secret how much their small but impassioned set meant to the outfit, with tracks blending their native Italian and English to deliver poetic harmonies over riffs clearly inspired by the gritty genre the headliners helped define. Ending their set came a rendition of the Ramones’ ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, with Babyshambles’ bassist Drew McConnell at their side, before a exuberant chant of their hometown, ‘Bergamo’, saw the group out.
In quick succession came Nottingham’s own Cucamaras, a self-defined “post-something band”. From their newest single, ‘Laughing’, to their on-the-nose track ‘Western’, what began as a handful of cheers grew into a sea of new fans by the end of their set. An on-stage charisma and uniformity reminiscent of Arctic Monkeys in their early days, with the lead vocalist carving out his own distinct moves and presence throughout the entire set, their combined energy was palpable – perhaps best captured by the frontman losing his pick to the stage in the frenzy of their fast-paced rigour.
After warming up the growing crowd with The Stranglers’ ‘Peaches’, it was finally time for Babyshambles’ return to the West Yorkshire stage. “As I say, it’s good to be back in Lancashire…” Doherty teased after kicking things off with the riotous ‘Killamangiro’ and ‘Delivery’. As beers flew and the crowd surged, it became apparent that old-school Babyshambles were back with a bang. The Blinding EP was swiftly added into the mix, with ‘I Wish’, ‘Sedative’, and ‘Beg, Steal, and Borrow’ rolled out one after the other – the latter receiving a poignant segue into The Stone Roses’ ‘Waterfall’ in tribute to the late, great guitarist Mani.
Throughout much of the night, their vocal and instrumental delivery felt off-piste, but predictably unpredictable they are, a coherent set was never on the cards – a guarantee that only adds to their everlasting appeal and magnetism. Despite cigarettes being swapped for modern-day vapes, and their revered frontman needing an extra few minutes to sit down throughout, the necessary components of a Babyshambles gig remained – crowdsurfing, collapsing, and on-stage carnage brought on by technical troubles and trilby-spinning.
As the evening drew on, more tracks from Shotter’s Nation wove themselves into the set, including ‘Baddie’s Boogie’, ‘French Dog Blues’, and ‘There She Goes’, the latter track dedicated to Amy Winehouse, before the band dialled the intensity back a notch with the unifying ‘Albion’. Drawing a warm response from punters stretching from the venue’s stage to its back doors, complete with a characterful, localised tweak to its pre-chorus, it proved a refreshing, innocuous take on pride and patriotism and a moment of contained togetherness in a political climate that feels increasingly fractured.
‘Dandy Hooligan’, dedicated to the loveable troublemakers of the world, closed the main stretch of their set, before their four-song encore ensued. Seeing Doherty and the crowd at their most animated, the ruffian energy seeped into the last legs of the gig with ‘F*ck Forever’. Dragging the track’s Blairite-era lyrics into the modern day saw Doherty put a sharp, contemporary spin on the anti-conformist anthem with “New Labour and Reform” – a nod to the same old divides that endure across the nation all these years on.
Not one to leave diehard fans in his absence for too long, the running theme of Doherty’s inevitable return came just minutes before curfew. Amps and mics off, the singer was swiftly joined by the Shambles for an off-the-cuff rendition of the Beatles’ ‘Twist and Shout’ and ‘What Katie Did’. A night that delivered the expected carnage and wit, it doubled as a jubilant celebration of the band’s reunification and a salute to the musical legends no longer with us.
Words by Ruby Brown
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