Live Review: The Libertines, Jarrow

As we move in closer to the stage, we notice Jarrow mastermind Dan Oke has gold glitter all over his face, second day at a camping festival stylez. The quartet rock out to the max while most fans of The Libertines smoke durries outside the venue and around the corner. The band aesthetic is all-black except for Oke's white cap and 'we don't give a fuck' 'tude oozes from the stage, which is totes appropes when you're supporting The Libertines.

Downstairs in the ladies lavatories, fans greet each other, "Hey guys, you survived last night?" having obviously attended The Libertines' spontaneous show at The Curtin. We even spot a fan in the crowd wearing a red Napoleonic jacket, stylishly paying tribute to the band.  

A tartan two-piece-clad chick wearing oversized, white-framed sunnies and large pink flower in her long platinum-blonde ponytail 'do takes the mic to perform some poetry before the headline act hit the stage, telling us she's originally from Melbourne but has lived in London for last ten years. No one gives a shit. They just keep talking. There are even a few scattered boos, but she ends her poem graciously nonetheless, saying, "Thank you."

The Libertines appear on stage and it's straight into Horrorshow. Pete Doherty takes his place behind a stage-right mic, which has gotta piss off fans of the shambolic man who chose to congregate in the middle of the crowd this evening. Co-frontmen Doherty and Carl Barat - whose vocals sound almost identical - do change positions and cover a lot of ground up there on stage throughout, but still... The band's caterwauling sound and triple axe assault (John Hassall's on bass) is held together by the powerful drumming of Gary Powell, who looks like some kind of superhero up there. The songs of The Libertines allow plenty of opportunities for, "OOOooh-oh!" and, "Yeah-yeah-yeah!" geezer singalongs and lots of beer and water is flung skyward towards the centre of GA as punters collectively lose their shit (particularly during The Delaney).

Ye olde visuals grace the back screen: a collage of scattered footage from Charlie Chaplin and Fred Astaire films as well as some clips from movies such as Watership Down, which takes us back to childhood cinema outings. Instrumentally, this band of misfits definitely bring it and their chops are nothing to be scoffed at. These guttersnipes do alright! Their warm-up show last night has served them well and they're in the finest of form. Ugh, we should've gone even though we already had tickets to this show!

The cartoonish melody and military-precision drumming in Fame And Fortune send us wild and we're taken straight to "Lun-den" thanks to plentiful geographical references in lyrical content. Doherty takes fashion inspiration from Oliver's Artful Dodger in his shabby-chic suit, white shirt, suspenders and jaunty hat; it's only his neck tattoos that bring him into this century. He tells us the band has been having a smashing time in Australia so far, adding, "It's a really nice change, though - smiley faces." Down-tempo track The Milkman's Horse offers dynamic interest as punters scream out chorus lyrics: "What you've done/Get out of my dreams, you scum." Then Baret perches behind the keyboard while Doherty moves to the centre-stage mic for You're My Waterloo. We suddenly notice how much Arctic Monkeys count these guys among their influences. Some riffs also call to mind The Strokes - who did it first? Hard to tell since both of these bands formed around the same time.

A fan throws a red rose up on stage, which Doherty picks up before ripping its head off and pushing it through the buttonhole of his lapel. All assembled clap standout track Can't Stand Me Now's intro in unison. Doherty closes out this track with some demented harmonica before flinging the instrument far out into the crowd before Barat jumps on a roadie for a spontaneous piggyback. During What Katie Did, Doherty holds an unlit durrie in his mouth. Barat removes it, placing the cig in his own mouth before trying to put it up Doherty's nose and then returning it, bent, into Doherty's mouth. The two frontmen seem so close that they've probably shared condoms. Death On The Stairs' bass line calls to mind Iggy Pop's Lust For Life. The irresistibly prowling Bucket Shop is one of their best.

The Libertines kick off their encore with fan-favourite Music When The Lights Go Out with its cheeky, curly, lackadaisical riff and Doherty is shirtless at this point, which is interesting. Heaps of punters yell lyrics at deafening volume during Up The Bracket and there's bound to be lost voices on the morrow. There's a riff at the tail end of Time For Heroes that deadset sounds like the melody from Annie's You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile! The band finish with a request: I Get Along in all its ramshackle glory.

What a night! It only serves to make us wish we were living in London when The Libertines were coming up in the scene! Although we may not have lived to tell the tale.