Carl Barât took to the stage in London’s Soho last night sans Doherty. He was also without the security of any of his previous band mates, but this didn’t seem to faze him as he tore through a set of songs from his debut solo album – his most emotional offering yet.
That’s not to say he didn’t have support – it was a family affair. On guitar for almost the whole performance was Barât’s brother, Ollie. Carl also brought the stunningly beautiful faces and voices of his girlfriend, Edie Langley, and her sister to sing the harmonies on ‘So Long, My Lover’.
Of course, the songs which got the biggest reaction were songs from Carl’s Libertines days. He gave us (amongst others) ‘Up The Bracket’ and ended on ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’. But it seemed like there was a lot of love for anything that Barât wanted to play – be it from the back catalogue of The Libertines, Dirty Pretty Things or his solo album.
Perhaps the most surprising addition to the set was a song of Pete Doherty’s – ‘The Ballad Of Grimaldi’. After the friction between the two Libs front men over who wrote what, I would’ve thought this was dangerous ground – especially as he didn’t introduce it as Pete’s song. He just told us we may not know the song. Anyway, it was brilliant. And a tad more upbeat than Doherty’s version.
If you aren’t from the lucky handful of people around for The Libertines’ notorious guerrilla gigs, the 100 Club may be the next best thing available. Converse recently stepped in to save it from being shut down – a move which Mr Barât praised on Twitter this morning.
“100 club gig was a triumph. The place is saved. Converse have conglomerated it? Happy daze x”
The distinct lack of barriers between the crowd and stage – that stood a mere one foot off the ground – meant that last night’s gig was about as intimate as it could get without Carl Barât making his way round the room for a cuddle with each fan.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get a cuddle. But many front-rowers stole a high five/grope as Carl revelled in the audience. His respect for the crowd continued through the night as he altered the set list, slipping in a performance of ‘What A Waster’ to accommodate the baying masses’ demands, and persuading off-stage clock-watchers to let him play one more song because the crowd wanted it and “how [could] they be wrong?”
Words by Emily Anderton
