Photo: Ray Hill
In a fittingly chaotic fashion, The Libertines played a massive and epic hit-packed show to mark their reunion, with a 24-song set headlining British Summer Time at London's Hyde Park last night (Saturday 5 July).
The band were supported earlier in the day by the likes of Spiritualised, The Twang, Reverend & The Makers, Maximo Park and more - with a very lively atmosphere throughout Hyde Park. At one point, we were queuing for a drink and the charge and crush towards the bar was like that at the front of a moshpit. Yes, everyone it seems, was up for it.
Prior to taking to the stage, the band thrilled fans by announcing two huge shows at London's Alexandra Palace on the big screen, taking place on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 September (for more information visit Gigwise Tickets). What followed was a montage of photos and footage of the band in their prime to gee the crowd up, the band then marched on stage with Pete Doherty and Carl Barat arm in arm, before bursting into 'Vertigo'.
But it wasn't long before the band were forced to halt their set, stopping after second song 'Boys In The Band' when Doherty told the crowd "We can't carry on until you calm down a bit". So strong was the crowd crush that a 10 minute wait followed while an injured audience member was lifted out, the crowd stepped back a bit to allow for space, and we all started singing 'Seven Nation Army' by The White Stripes for some reason. The set was again halted later after 'Time For Heroes'.
We also remember Doherty introducing 'Music When The Lights Go Out' by chanting "Albion-ey, Albion-ey, ole, ole, ole" - and things again being paused when one rowdy crowd member climbed up one of the speaker towers, with Barat saying: "If you don’t stop climbing the towers, Pigman [Doherty] can't do his solo."
Haha the libertines were amazing last night, British Summertime Festival just wasn't ready for them! pic.twitter.com/53vZO7PijD #thelibertines
— ✌️ (@martin123_emma) July 6, 2014
"I wanted to drive my camper van into the backstage area," Doherty later told the crowd. "The security guards said 'you don't want to do that because of the traffic'. I wanted to drive it in and put union jacks on top. They said 'you've got nothing to fly the flag for' and I said what about William Blake? What about Johnny Marr? What about Carl Barat?" What followed was a pretty glorious rendition of 'Albion', with the crowd howling it back at the band in full voice.
After an explosive rendition of 'I Get Along', Carl and Pete ended their set by reciting Siegfried Sassoon's 1918 poem iconic World War I poem, Suicide In The Trenches - before Doherty told the crowd: "We remember and honour those who gave their lives for liberty. We thought it was nerve-wracking coming out here tonight but leaving Kings Cross station with a rifle across your back in 1914 must have been really hard."
The Libertines played:
Vertigo
Boys in the Band
The Delaney
Campaign of Hate
Time for Heroes
Horrorshow
Begging
The Ha Ha Wall
Music When the Lights Go Out
What Katie Did
The Boy Looked at Johnny
Can't Stand Me Now
Last Post on the Bugle
Love on the Dole
The Saga
Encore:
Death on the Stairs
Radio America
Don't Look Back Into the Sun
Tell the King
Up the Bracket
What a Waster
France
Albion (Babyshambles cover)
I Get Along
Below: More exclusive photos from The Libertines' Hyde Park gig
