Gig Review: The Freewheelin' Peter Doherty

Peter Doherty, Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Thursday 19th March 2009

It’s no great secret that I am long-term fan of Peter Doherty; poet, singer, shambolic guitarist, tabloid fodder and chaotic dreamer. As a fan of fine words, delicate thoughts and ‘tickle me pink’ music, Doherty finds a vulnerable place in my silly old heart.

I have never had heroes. As a child, I found myself taken with lifestyles instead of laudable individuals. I had romantic notions of a free world. I longed for a society built on three constructs: love, peace and creativity. I thought that if I believed and wished for this perfect society hard enough, and if others did the same, then anything was possible. I never doubted the power of empathy, of being able to place oneself in another person’s shoes.

I doubted the will in others to dream and wish hard enough. I doubted the capability of others to realise the beauty of this dream. I felt that they could if they truly wanted to.

I looked to the hippie movement and I looked to the medieval world of wandering minstrels. So struck by a children’s book about wandering minstrels, in vivid dreams of longing, I visualised an idealised version of the society that this lifestyle encompassed. I never imagined myself to be a wandering minstrel, but as a medieval villager, enthralled.

I have always known my limitations.

Now I am 37 years old. I no longer live in a village. Entertainment visits towns. I visit festivals. We travel to each other. My insides flutter, melt and bubble whenever I see a great live act. What is an artist on tour but a modern day minstrel? What is a festival but a medieval fayre? Do I ever change?

I knew what I wanted before I found it.

Still, there is only one person, in real-life, that truly captures the full spirit of my childhood wandering minstrel imaginings. This is Peter Doherty. This is the man who would play outside a venue after a gig, take people back to his flat, prioritise fans over journalists, and wear his heart - however fucked up - on his sleeve.

The lifestyle can be chaotic, but therein lays the romance. There is romance in chaos. We are enthralled by chaotic periods of history. We love to find the beauty in hardship and hard times.

The Peter Doherty that played the 1800 capacity Brighton Dome on Thursday night was the same Pete Doherty that played the 100 capacity Brighton Freebutt in 2004. Life may have moved on, but the character remains the same: charming, affable, quick witted, generous of spirit and naturally shambolic.

On Thursday night, Peter walked on the stage wearing jeans and a long-sleeved jumper. He looked rather normal, with no razzmatazz, tie or glitz. Later, a hat would appear and disappear. For the most part his face was on full view. He looked healthy. He looked confident. He looked years younger. He looked less afraid of holding a stage on his own. He didn’t have to. The stage was, for the most part, full. Sensible looking men, older - even - than one such as I, added instrumentation to his songs.

Peter is trying something new. It’s not just his name.

And so it was. With strings, smoky jazz ballads and country-folk influences, the set-list bestowed a disjointed journey through Peter Doherty’s Arcadian dream, with a fresh veneer to boot.

For the first few songs, I found myself agog. Self-assured and refined, there was nothing to fault. I may be a Doherty fan, but I never realised that with proper focus and practise, the man has an amazing singing voice. Has he been too freewheeling to find it, use it and fiercely fight his corner with it? Has he had coaching?

This is a creative fantasist and not a man of natural focus. The focus is new too.

In due course, the real Peter shone through.

For, even at the Dome, after such a cracking start, there were mistakes. I bless the man for them. Such failings are part of his beauty and his charm. Without them, the air would be tepid and the atmosphere dull.

With a sharp remark, a facial expression and a 'we’re all in this together' attitude, Doherty shrugs off the odd bum note or excitable false start with a 'I'm only human' charm. The man carries his fans on his journey with him, wherever that may be to, in the sweet by and by. He might be ramshackle, but he’s always inclusive. Perhaps it is this combination that causes Doherty to attract the most ardent of fans.

Stalkers besiege Peter and, although I am a self-proclaimed fan, stalkers scare me. Doherty doesn’t discriminate. He accepts all-comers, sometimes with bemusement but never with distaste. I like this. This is the libertarian in action. A man is merely a man. We are all equals.

Bras and flowers hang on the microphone stand, notes are silently read, jewellery is worn and half-smoked 'illegal indoor' cigarettes are lambasted and then smoked. Playful curiosity prevails.

Peter hasn’t choreographed every aspect of his set, and even with the new spit and sheen, this fact remains. Plans change according to mood and circumstance, and gifts find themselves accepted in good humour.

Good humour is not bashing the idiot - who hits you square on with a full pint of beer - around the head with a guitar. "Let’s be professional," Doherty says with a wily grin. Pretending to hurl your guitar at him is far funnier. Returning a wet gift when it’s least expected is an apt comeback. I hope he hit the right person.

With four albums true, and an unofficial back catalogue, leaked by the man himself, Peter - who turned 30 just ten days ago - has a vast reserve of great songs that should be the envy of most musicians. Fans know many of his songs in all stages of development, from the tenements to the charts.

Gently sung and poorly picked classics have a life of their own. Being precious isn’t the reserve of the wandering minstrel. Corporate sales, records labels and buff are not the Arcadian way to hearts and minds. Jacopo Sannazaro will tell you as much. A good song will find its way. Life is the sum of its parts. This is what the tabloids miss. From kernels, a new album has emerged for real. Songs mutate in a wider arena.

Peter has always been too generous. He is no doubt aware of his short fallings when it comes to musical accomplishment. Thus on release, his songs are never completely his own. The first Babyshambles album demonstrates the pitfalls to this approach all too well. Carl Barât is the only musician that has ever truly added something to Peter’s songs without taking too much away. The producer Stephen Street is now trying to take this crown. He is on stage for the show.

Perhaps we have a lot to thank Stephen for. The new album Grace/Wastelands is racking up good reviews. When the reviews are not good they are positive.

Developing a relationship with the old songs in their new form has been an odd but enjoyable experience. The album entries grow and grow on me. I am learning to listen to them in the different way. Gone is the George Orwell down and out, living-room busker. These songs have so much polish they could gently caress a middle-class eating experience.

When Peter stood alone on the stage singing 'The Ballad of Grimaldi', the loveable in house busker stood before us once again. He took us back to the unofficial recordings, with the "we fight in the street" lyrics punching into the room. Without perfection, playing as though to a room of friends, and for love of the ditty alone, it demonstrated that Peter is Pete. He is both men. Anything is possible for the future.

Seeing Doherty looking so confident and healthy, and performing so well, can only be for the good. The man is young enough to find his own path and to learn to direct his songs himself.

Perhaps the new album is too refined, perhaps the Dome Concert Hall rendition of Albion was bastardised, deplete of a proper chorus, and a dad rock tragedy, but, surely, this is a much better direction for the man we so easily could have lost.


Fabpants Recommends:

Here are three songs from Peter Doherty’s new album Grace/Wastelands.

Download MP3: Peter Doherty - Sheepskin Tearaway (courtesy of iamthe-walrus.com)




Download MP3: Peter Doherty - Arcady (courtesy of iamthe-walrus.com)




Download MP3: Peter Doherty - Lady Don't Fall Backwards (courtesy of media.clashmusic.com)



You can listen to the whole album, all twelve tracks, here: Peter Doherty - Grace/Wastelands

Other new albums worth your attention include Polly Scattergood – ‘Polly Scattergood’ and Camera Obscura – ‘My Maudlin Career’.

Download MP3: Polly Scattergood - I Hate The Way (sorry, this link has died)



Download MP3: Polly Scattergood - Unforgiving Arms (courtesy of stashbox.org)




Download MP3: Polly Scattergood - Other Too Endless (courtesy of hauntedgraffiti.com)




Download MP3: Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career (courtesy of camera-obscura.net)




To finish here is a lively number from Heartsrevolution, purveyors of sweet things from ice-cream vans.

Download MP3: Heartsrevolution - Ultraviolence (Vitalic Remix) (courtesy of fileden.com)