Doherty brandishes broken microphone stand at gig

Rock singer Pete Doherty broke the stand of a microphone and brandished it before the audience during a Rome concert, news reports said today.

Doherty, lead singer of Babyshambles, also broke all the instruments on stage during the stormy concert held at the Piper club on Monday night, the daily Corriere della Sera reported.

According to the paper, the band’s drummer was hit by an object and forced to leave the stage.

Doherty grabbed the stand of the microphone and brandished it before the fans standing in the first rows. No one was reported hurt.

Concert organisers acknowledged Doherty broke the stand and “threw it up in the air,” but did not say whether it hit anybody.

“During the concert the singer has interacted with the public ‘in his own way’ but without causing riots or anything,” DNA Concerti said in a statement.

Doherty, 27, is the on-again-off-again boyfriend of supermodel Kate Moss.

He has had a string of arrests for drug possession and is undergoing a court-ordered drug rehabilitation programme.