Photo: Danny Payne
I'm actually wearing the same clothes as then," says Carl Barat facetiously, on what has changed since the last time The Libertines played Leeds Festival. "So not much really."
"I've grown a beard, I suppose, " adds Gary Powell as we sit down with the band backstage at Leeds Festival. It's the kind of down to earth attitude that won the Libertines legions of fans during their first incarnation in the early 2000s. Debut a lbum Up The Bracket made them bona fine UK punk stars, before 2004's self-titled sophomore catapulted them into the indie stratosphere.
They were everything the UK music press wanted from a band - sublimely talented, bags of personality and completely out of control. But, in the five years since they last played the festival, has the time come for the London four-piece to knuckle down and start playing new songs?
"I get really pissed off at a gig and bands play nothing but stuff you don't know," says Carl. "I think when you go and see a band that you like, it should be a celebration of them," agrees Gary. "There's not much point in celebrating something you don't really know."
So no new tunes for their Leeds festival set? "People will want to have a glimpse about what we have coming up and hopefully we'll be able to whet people's appetites. As far as new-new ones go, we have lots of songs in the pipeline, there is always something because these guys (Pete and Carl) always have some new songs that they haven't even written yet."
Despite complaints that the enthusiasm of Leeds festival crowds has dampened in recent years, the band are quick to defend the festival's reputation. "They seem to have the same fervour as they always had," insists Carl, who has played there with the Libs in 2003, 2004 and 2010.
"They still seem just as eager to receive the music and it Is up to us to deliver it passionately to them," adds Gary.
So why the reunion? "It was a rekindled friendship," explains Gary. "We'd never had the opportunity to sit down together and say, 'You alright mate, how are you doing?' because there were always people watching us. It wasn't until we all went to Hamburg and all lived together for a bit that we had the chance to get to know each other again and be ourselves."
Pete Doherty isn't present at the interview, but Carl and Gary speak insightfully on the problems surrounding their bandmate during the height of the band's turbulent fame. "We have managed to accept Pete and his problems," muses Gary. "But not just accept them, we have learned a lot about the problems he used to have."
"It was confusing and new to us, all the chaos," agrees Carl. "But it made us more patient - we all have our own demons and you have to help each other out. Addiction is a very misunderstood complex thing."
The Festival isn't the only time the band had played Leeds in the past - the two also speak of their love for the recently deceased Cockpit.
"One of our first big gigs was there, supporting the White Stripes," reminisces Gary fondly. "I was drinking on the top bit and talking to Meg White. A group of lads below were shouting 'oy!' - I looked down and waved, and they shouted, 'Not you, you prick - her!'."
