The Libertines gig review: Pete Doherty and co provide indie-sleaze heaven in Cork
Pete Doherty and Carl Barât of The Libertines on stage at Cyprus Avenue, Cork.
The Libertines, Cyprus Avenue, Cork, ★★★★☆
It's been an unexpected yet hard-earned year for the Libertines. They've written and recorded a fourth studio album, All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade, and actually stayed together long enough to tour it.
An enthusiastic crowd packed out Cork’s Cyprus Avenue on Sunday for a sold-out gig, having paid €60 for the privilege of being catapulted back to the golden era of indie sleaze. It’s probably the most expensive price ever for a concert at the Oliver Plunkett Street venue, but Munster fans were well able to justify it, given the costs that the dreaded trip to Dublin now entails.
The four-piece group - comprising guitarist/vocalists Pete Doherty and Carl Barât, bass player John Hassall and drummer Gary Powell – look suave as ever, donning everything from tweed paddy caps and tank tops to leather jackets and a Palestine jersey.
Kicking off with the first single from their new album, ‘Run, Run, Run’ combines the Libs’ classic guitar riffs and narrative vocals with a refined sound inspired by modern influences.
That’s followed by the band’s genre-defining classics like ‘What Katie Did’, and ‘The Good Old Days’. Cyprus Avenue was laden with love for the indie rock pioneers whose tunes soundtracked the teenage years of many in the crowd.
Frontmen Pete Doherty and Carl Barât have the audience in the palm of their hands. In fairness, they’ve been through a lot together, and it’s something of a minor miracle they’re back performing together.
Taking tumultuous band relationships to new heights, Doherty was famously jailed for six months in 2003 for burgling Barât’s apartment. Reportedly, the pair even required bodyguards to keep them apart during the recording of their second album.
Despite their prior grievances giving the Gallagher brothers a run for their money, the pair produce a thrilling performance in Cork, with a strong rapport obvious between the two.
“How do you count to four in Irish?” the pair ask the crowd, playfully debating who has a greater knack for new languages.
“Pete has always been better at that,” Barât tells the roaring crowd.
“Haon, dó, trí, ceathair,” Doherty confidently recites, cigarette in hand, before breaking into fan-favourite ‘Music When the Lights Go Out’.
But tonight is not just about The Libertines. During their encore, friend of the band Timothy Midnight is brought on stage for a very important task. With a ring in his pocket and a long-time girlfriend by his side, the Indie Romeo gets down on one knee to pop the question.
“She said yes,” he assures the crowd, setting the tone for the band’s euphoric end to the night.
Sing-a-long favourites ‘Time for Heroes’ and ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’ set the nostalgia dial up to 11, and the gig ends with a chant for Palestine kicked off by drummer Powell.
Twenty years since their inception and the Libertines still have it and more. What became of the likely lads? Well we know now, and it seems they found forever.
