Heroes Arrive in the Nick of Time; The Libertines at Glastonbury 2015

The effects of the famous leg break that was heard around the world have rippled on ever since Dave Grohl suffered his unfortunate injury in Sweden just over two weeks ago and, although the Foo Fighters’ frontman admirably continued that night to play an impressive two hours, his further commitments to tour dates and festival appearances were immediately placed in serious jeopardy and, unsurprisingly, cancelled shortly after.  Of course this included what was to be a monumental Friday night headlining slot on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, and a fairly sensible decision was made – given the incredibly short notice of the matter – to bump Florence and The Machine up the bill into one of the most illustrious clubs in the world of music.  But as Team Foos and Team Florence waged a war of words across social media about who was the better choice for a Glasto headliner, few turned their attention to the slot now vacated by Ms Welch’s group (masterfully described by someone on twitter as sounding like “an owl locked inside a wind chime shop”), and those who did broach the subject likely didn’t do so with particularly high expectations.

I was most certainly one of these people, joking with friends in the lead up to the festival and attempting to outdo one another in the game of trying to name the shittest band that would end up playing the slot – wouldn’t want to offend anybody by naming any names on that one!  Even shortly after passing through the gates of Glastonbury I found I’d still not given it all that much thought, although I certainly wasn’t going to be surprised if I heard some of the usual names flying around for bands apparently spotted at the festival and/or confirmed by some soon-to-be unreliable source.  In the eight consecutive times I’ve now been to Glastonbury there has only been one band that I’ve been powerless to resist the relentless rumours for no matter how farfetched they might have seemed – The Libertines.  It feels like practically every year at some point I’ve found myself wandering to a different corner of the festival so as to catch that famous reunion, an intimate one time only Pete and Carl acoustic set, or some secret Babyshambles gig.  Even just the prospect of Pete Doherty playing a guitar off his barnet inside a tent somewhere would have had me walking miles at one time or another – and apart from the fact that he’s clean these days even now!

To be fair I have seen all manner of composites from the original Albion-formula over the years – the Shambles, Dirty Pretty Things, Yeti, and probably Pete with bloody Wolfman at some point as well.  I’ve seen Pete without The Libertines more times than I could remember, and even The Libertines without Pete at Leeds Festival shortly after he was thrown out of the band.  So when my best mate (and partner in crime for every one of those shambolic escapades) comes up to me on Wednesday afternoon once the tents have gone up and says “Lad, heard people saying The Libertines for the Pyramid on Friday there ya know”, I could be forgiven for returning a wry smile and not holding my breath.

Still there I was on Friday evening – after watching Motorhead play the ‘Ace of Spades’ about ten times – with everything crossed, in great company, and my hopes all ready to be dashed.  Next minute I’m looking at a picture of someone looking out of a helicopter on someone’s phone.  Are they supposed to be flying towards Worthy Farm?  Is it The Libertines?  Who’s the hell has let Pete Doherty fly a helicopter?  Too many questions swirling around my head and still no definite answers.  Suddenly the banner drops down on the stage.  It says The Libertines.  Limbs everywhere.  Screams.  Hugs.  Kisses.  Tears.  Pete and Carl appear on the stage with beer flying out of their bottles like champagne and backed up by John and Gary – it was really happening.

The Boys in the Band – back in the day

For me, many of my friends, and so many thousands of others in the audience this was nothing short of a dream come true.  The culmination of years waiting for such a moment to occur, a celebration of so many nights dancing tragically to these songs in places like the Barfly and Le Bateau, and the many, many times playing their albums into the early hours of the morning or until all the booze ran out and we’d fall asleep.  It was the salvation after the heartbreak of the band’s split in 2004, and the saddening sight of watching Pete Doherty walk the tightrope of death as a junky ever since, whilst all the while knowing we should have been in the midst of enjoying The Good Old Days with our favourite band.  But at the Pyramid stage on Friday evening the band finally made things right and set the good ship Albion back on course – hopefully – for a long time to come.

Whether it was riotous early stompers like “The Delaney” and “Horrorshow”, or more romantic dreamy numbers like “Music When The Lights Go Out” and “What Katie Did”, the boys in the band gave it their all both emotionally and musically.  Some people will want to criticise them for apparent sloppiness, or sounding a bit rough round the edges; It’s The Libertines – why would you want them to sound any other way?  This is a band whose following are as passionate and devoted as any I’ve ever known or been a part of in my lifetime, and I’d take being at their shittest gig than watching some boring, soulless and middle of the road performance all day long.  Once again the bands in question shall remain strictly anonymous.  For their part they actually sounded pretty tight – or as much as you’d want them to without it ruining their charm – and, having agreed to perform at very short notice, fittingly confessed to making their set up as they went.

Pete and Carl back together at Glastonbury

Classics like “Time For Heroes”, “Can’t Stand Me Now”, and “What a Waster” were all in there, and fan favourites such as “The Good Old Days”, “Death on the Stairs” and “I Get Along” made this makeshift set one to remember.  We were even treated to the live debut of a new song in “Anthem For Doomed Youth”, which more than did exactly what it said on the tin, and had the qualities of being fit for many future epic sing-alongs.  So many they did play and, as any self-respecting Libertines fan will know from being immersed in their numerous unfinished recordings and rough demos over the years, even more that they didn’t have time for.  A fitting finale in “Don’t Look Back into the Sun” was the perfect way to end this magical moment for all in attendance, and was accompanied by an en masse singing of everything from the song’s screams, bass and lead guitar parts and lyrics.

By the end Pete had collapsed on his back onstage with both physical and emotional exhaustion, and was quickly leapt upon by Carl for the two to share this years-in-the-making moment on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury they must have always dreamed of having – and at times likely thought had passed them by.  Sure, they reunited for a series of gigs in 2010, and again for their gigs last year, but this was the one that mattered – you could see it on their faces – and with a new album coming out the band now have a chance to make up for all that lost time.  They’ve managed to stir up that same, unparalleled, excitement in me that I first felt now over a decade ago and, seeing them up there like that, it almost felt like they’d never been away.  So here’s hoping they never go away again and, should the good ship Albion remain on course for many years to come, maybe one day we’ll get to see them headline that stage like it’s always felt like they were born to do.