The Libertines rolled into Glasgow on Thursday 17 October as part of the 26-show tour of the UK and Ireland supporting their latest album release, All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade.
The Libertines played an acoustic set at Assai Records earlier in the afternoon before heading to the Barrowland Ballroom for the first of two sold-out nights at the famous old venue.
The doors opened at 7 pm and the first of two support bands soon got the party started. Local Authority – a three-piece garage rock band from Ayr and Paisley blasted off with their raw, driving and melodic new punk sound and won over a load of new fans from the gathering crowd. Their 25-minute set left their new fans calling for more as the hall filled up.
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Next up was Real Farmer who are new signings to Pete Doherty’s Strap Originals label and were making their Scottish debut as part of a five-date hook-up on this part of The Libertines tour. Hailing from Groningen in The Netherlands, their punchy post-punk and indie rock set had the audience suitably charged and ready for the main event.
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Right on time at 9:10 pm sharp a lone piper entered the stage and played Flower of Scotland which had the crowd singing along like the Tartan Army. Pete Doherty led the band onto the stage accompanied by his dog, Gladys and saluted the crowd with a wave of his cane before the tortured guitars ripped straight into ‘The Delaney’, which would set the scene for the rest of the night.
What followed was a 1 hour 45 minutes, 24 tracks deep dive across their 22-year recording career of 4 studio albums, including 8 songs from the new album, All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade. The comeback album was released in April this year to critical acclaim and reached Number 1 in the album charts some twenty years after the eponymous album reached that lofty position. Upon its release NME proclaimed The Libertines had “found their voice again” and “The band’s first album in nearly a decade doesn’t chase the same intoxicating high as their early material. They sound better for it” and that sounds about right as the newer songs sit seamlessly, if slightly more sedately, alongside the mega tunes and fans’ favourites.
‘What Became of the Likely Lads’ followed and the crowd knew they were in for a special night with all four bandmates gelling in a more polished and dare I say more mature, less chaotic but equally compelling and no less energetic performance than those of yesteryear. Co-frontman Carl Barât sang the lion’s share of the vocals alongside his old mate Pete, with long-time Libertines Gary Powell (who latterly toured with The Specials) on drums and John Hassall providing the bass and backing vocals. Barât and Doherty’s guitars and voices intertwined in perfect harmony. Not a beat was missed as they powered through the set. The rather dapper duo were dressed in suits and hats, the brims of their fedoras met when they occasionally shared the same mic in their iconic face-to-face moments.
The capacity crowd spent most of the night with arms aloft, singing along in joyful unison and producing the kind of atmosphere for which Glasgow’s Barrowlands is famous.
‘What Katie Did’ was a highlight for me as was the more tender ‘Music When The Lights Go Out’. The rest of the first part of the set included more of the back catalogue of crowd-pleasers and six of the perfectly integrated newer songs. The catchy ‘Run Run Run’, which was the lead single from the new album is a new classic sing-along for the devout crowd. Finally, for this part of the set ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’ had the euphoric audience in naughties heaven as Pete’s shrieking harmonica brought the song to its climax.
After a well-earned breather the band returned to the stage and kicked off part two with a gentle rendition of ‘Man With The Melody’ from the new album before ramping it up again for ‘Gunga Din’, ‘Last Post On The Bugle’, the massive sing-along ‘Time For Heroes’, and more. The penultimate track was the band’s much loved first single, the high octane ‘What A Waster’, before Gary Powell led the crowd in a chant in a show of solidarity with the people of Palestine, and then with the audience still in full voice the mighty indie anthem ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’ brought the show to a close. The happy and sweaty likely lads linked arms centre stage to take a bow and thank the audience. The fans, high on endorphins at what they had just experienced, filed out into the blissfully cool and wet Glasgow night.
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