“Wait, what time are they meant to be on?” says the guy five deep at the bar in the next room of Liverpool’s Guild of Students. I show him my phone clock, which says 20.58, and tell him 9pm. “Oh, they’ll be late,” he smiles, and doesn’t seem concerned about getting his 2-pint cup of Carling in time. Of course, we’re here to see The Libertines.
Somehow, this room and the room with the actual stage in it are both full. It’s a sellout show, and the crowd is shoulder-to-shoulder with seemingly zero chance of weaving your way through to the front, but people just keep heading forwards – nearly thirty years into the legendary tale of The Libertines, and the fervour of fans new and old hasn’t died down one bit. This is a show you must witness up close.
We started proceedings tonight with Zuzu, whose dreamy indie-pop paints a picture of Liverpool with the same affection and specificity that the Libs have for London. Especially in the crushing emotion of her closer ‘Queensway Tunnel’, it’s a perfect fit, and one of many carefully selected openers from this tour (the poster requires some deciphering). In between Zuzu and main support Real Farmers, who are a punky, outspoken outfit from the Netherlands, we’re also treated to some acoustic entertainment from Ed Cosens – it’s a non-stop sort of festival feel.
Sure enough, as foretold by our mystery friend at the bar, the band amble out at about quarter past to the delightful, rollicking tones of The Delaney. The crowd erupts in a chorus of ‘no no no’s and ‘yeah yeah yeah!’s, and we’re treated to a straight run of gems to get the energy up. The Delaney is followed by What Became of the Likely Lads, Boys in the Band, What Katie Did, The Good Old Days, Up The Bracket, and Vertigo – half an hour of greatest hits that see two fingers held aloft, pints thrown, and with Pete and Carl singing into one mic and Gary’s expansive drum breaks could easily have been taken from any Libs show in the last ten years. Their camaraderie is timeless.
It gets interesting, though, when they dip into their most recent release, All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade. It has been almost a decade since the Libertines were touring new music, and as they lilt into Baron’s Claw, there is a noticeable calm in the crowd. But they know what they’re doing – by knocking out a load of hits at the start, then giving us an extended run of new songs, they’re managing to keep a couple thousand nostalgia-drunk fans focused. While it takes some warming up, playing several newer tunes in a row means no one is running off to the bar or the toilet during every tune off All Quiet…, and instead are sticking around and getting into it. By the time we get into the excellent, moody Merry Old England, the Libertines’ reflections on the recent political shift to the right and how England treats immigrants and refugees, they’ve convinced anyone and everyone who just came along for the classics.
In fact, when you’re watching a band as established as the Libs, when you know every word so inside out, sometimes singing along to your favourites can almost feel like delightful autopilot. But between the saxophone and brass interludes that elevate Baron’s Claw, the familiar-but-fresh tumble of Run Run Run, and the genuinely brilliant, moving, magnum opus of Songs They Never Play On The Radio, The Libertines remind us to listen properly and notice how great they are at writing songs, and how symbiotic they still are as a group. Can’t Stand Me Now was a new one once, too!
With only Gunga Din on the setlist from last album Anthems For Doomed Youth, it’s a shame not to hear more from the Libertines’ great comeback – the songs have certainly stood the test of time, and have stood up as favourites on previous tours. But it’s a treat to be reminded how much the Libertines themselves have stood the test of time with brand new material gleefully smushed up against their oldest.
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- All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade
- Carl Barât
- Guild of Students
- Indie Rock
- Live Music
- Liverpool
- Pete Doherty
- Real Farmers
- The Libertines
- Zuzu
