I Never Said it was Clever

Last night I had a beer shampoo and shower, got squashed into a more compact unit, narrowly avoided flying elbows and feet and sang my little black heart out. It was absolutely amazing. First of all Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong came on like true rock stars, having only released one single ‘Lucio Starts Fires’. Then The View jumped onto the cage in very convincing Dizzee Rascal outfits. Their set was really quite something. Say ‘WO-AH’, ‘WO-AH’. And of course, nothing could be better than hearing Captain Sensible’s ‘Happy Talk’ being sampled, a favourite of mine since the single digit years. You’ve got to hand it to Dizzee; he puts on a damn fine show. I’ve always loved a bit of scrit-scrit-scratching! I had been looking forward to seeing The View, as advertised, but what a warm up. Jump, Jump… We jumped.

Some headliners headline and others stand on stage like reluctant mice; some completely arse it up. The one and only Mister Pete Doherty - the tabloids favourite crucifixion target – is an unpredictable artist, but on the night of the 25th November 2007, he demonstrated all of the reasons that the tabloid disciples have no fucking idea.

The nation’s most loved and hated minstrel played like an undisputedly talented poet, musician and performer. He played the best gig I have seen in a very long time, and, I assure you, I have not been hiding at home. Okay, the sexual chemistry – akin to homoerotic fantasy blogs that The Libertines inspired - was absent, but me oh my, what a show. The new album ‘Shotters Nation’ gave a taste of what was to come, and there was no disappointment in this irrelevant person’s mind. To top it all off, Pete, alone and blessed with the magic of a natural singer songwriter, gave acoustic performances of ‘Music when the Lights Go Out’ and ‘The Lost Art of Murder’. In his living room corner of the stage the band then joined him for some further acoustic wonderland treats, with ‘There She Goes’ and ‘Albion’.

Get up off your back
Stop smoking that
You could change your life

Pete, you may have gone through a shambolic phase and released one truly terrible album, but your overall output over the last five years makes you one of the greatest artists I have ever been blessed to share a room with. Good luck with rehabilitation. You got me high.

I went to sleep singing, I woke up singing, and I sang all the way to work.