Carl Barat, best known as one half of the songwriting partnership responsible for the most influential band of the last decade, is not one to rest on his laurels. Last summer he finally succumbed to Pete Doherty‘s persuasive charms and reunited The Libertines to headline the Reading and Leeds festival. The gigs, which also included a warm up show at London’s Kentish Town Forum, did no harm to the band’s legacy and went down an absolute storm.
Carl could have embraced this as a golden opportunity to put down a deposit on his retirement home and keep The Libertines vehicle going for years, touring the world and milking dry the nostalgia machine. So it is refreshing to see that nearly a year on, rather than playing a show with The Libertines in a soul sucking arena somewhere, he can be found headlining his very own solo gig at Camden’s KOKO venue. You’ve got to admire the man’s willingness to give it a shot and tonight he was bang on target.
The presence of a cello, orchestral bass, keyboard and two female backing vocalists made this a much more grandiose affair than your typical Libertines or Dirty Pretty Things show. Seeing Carl perform first song ‘Magus‘, with the microphone in his hand, stripped of his guitar, was an unfamiliar sight which felt rather alien at first. It was like Slash without the hat, Bez without the maracas, Liam without the stance. He didn’t exactly exude the charisma of Morrissey but it did work thanks to the honesty and passion in his delivery that made for a much more intimate and revealing experience than we would get seeing him in his previous bands.
The opening trumpet notes for next song ‘Run With The Boys‘ were met with delight and officially got the party started. Why was he playing his best solo song so early in the set? Is he blowing his load a little early? None of this mattered. The track was written to get people dancing and tonight it did just that; the same way ‘This Charming Man‘ does every Saturday night at indie clubs worldwide. Coincidentally, it shares a very similar feel to the classic Smiths track.
Two dedications to Pete undoubtedly roused speculation of yet another reunion. The first of those was for ‘The Man Who Would Be King‘, which was played very early in the set and unsurprisingly had the audience in hysterics. The fact that it whipped up this level of excitement is a testament to the strength of The Libertines’ rich catalogue of songs as it is nowhere near amongst their best. The approach to his setlist tonight seemed to be a couple of newies, hit us with an oldie, couple of newies, oldie and so forth. It’s a method which paid dividends and resulted in a very diverse and varied set, devoid of any predictability.
The second dedication to Pete came in the form of ‘Death On The Stairs‘, which Carl bashed out as if it was the first time he was playing it. The ‘ahhs’ were belted out by the crowd with the roar of a packed out Wembley Stadium full of lary England football fans – a truly special moment. “I like playing this one,” Carl said. The fans certainly like hearing it, so everyone’s a winner.
Tonight’s career spanning set featured a poignant nod toward Carl’s recently defunct band Dirty Pretty Things. Introducing former band mate, Didz, who swaggered on stage with a can of red stripe to belt out the backing vocals for ‘Deadwood‘ was magical and chaotically brilliant, a glimpse of a time when this band were at their best, however short lived that was. Didz reappeared for ‘Bang Bang Your Dead‘, which got as good a response as any Libertines track, and later ‘Truth Begins‘.
A mini Dirty Pretty Things reunion was probably not the most obvious occurrence tonight, Didz winking at Carl with a smile ear to ear was telling of how much a good time everyone on stage was having. This was more a celebration of Carl’s career to date as he eased new material into the set gently and threw in surprises and crowd pleasers to strike a healthy balance.
Carl’s new material is far more somber, downbeat and less commercial than what he is best known for. It explores new musical avenues and styles he hasn’t pursued before. These songs transpire very well in a live setting and, aided by two female backing vocalists, were given a spine tingling atmospheric quality. There is no ego with Carl on stage as he is happy to let others take the limelight – he didn’t even take his top off… ‘So Long, My Lover‘ is already sounding like a classic and will no doubt feature in his set for years to come in the ‘tear-jerking moment’ slot. The angry crunching guitar of ‘Death Fires Burn At Night‘ packed a punch and is evidence that the old ferocious Libertine flame continues to burn somewhere deep inside him.
Despite tonight being largely a success, it is hard to ignore the fact that this may have worked a little better at a smaller venue. KOKO appeared to be a third empty, however it’s unclear whether this is because it didn’t sell out or that the organizers allocated a limited amount of tickets. Either way, Carl made it work and put on a show that oozed maturity with his newer material and still retained energy with the classics. Speaking of which, ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun‘ closed proceedings and as usual triggered a mass singalong and mayhem of tossed drinks, uncontrollable jumping and general pandemonium among the keen crowd down the front.
Where will we find Carl this time next year? That’s anyone’s guess. It would almost be a shame if he didn’t keep the momentum going and put out another solo album pretty sharpish, but that persuasive friend of his might just have other plans.
(Matt Humphrey)
