Pete Docherty has quite a few nemeses, being thrown out of The Libertines because of his cocaine and crack addiction the past year has been a drug-infected rollercoaster ride for the young lad. NME researchers have had their work halved in 2004 as Pete has made the music headlines on a weekly basis. Now, as his turbulent 12 months is coming to an end Pete has found love in a new band called Babyshambles and seems to be popping up at any venue he can park his van outside. Tonight he is playing on Holloway Road, something he isn't allowed to do at this moment in time. As right now Pete is on stage at Hammersmith Apollo and he's really pissed off with the organizers of the XFM Winter Wonderland concert. Because of his late arrival he has been suspended from playing with his band on stage. So the crackhead does what a crackhead knows best, he starts singing solo then attempts to dive into the crowd to pull fans up onto the stage. But, hang on, lets take a step back shall we and examine the situation. One skinny drug addict with more pinpricks in his left arm then a porcupines body is battling against ten well-built security guards whilst attempting to carry fans onto the stage. He succeed once, the fan makes the stage after minutes of battling against fellow fans, security and a safety barrier only to be escorted off by a stage organizer who casually walks onto the stage to remove him. Fantastic! It's then we hear of Pete's second gig in Holloway Road as he grabs the mic as tightly as a syringe and announces the venue where he will be at 'within the hour' and invites the crowd to the free gig. The fans opted for staying in their place after paying £20 towards the Shelter charity and enjoy the stunning lineup for the next five hours.
On reflection it was a pretty good job Pete left as he was the topic for endless jokes from the XFM presenters throughout the night which presented the live acts through the night. The best joke coming from Breakfast show host, Christian O'Connell who after commenting on the snow being reflected on the screen behind him, made the comment that Pete may have mistaken the white stuff for cocaine. Before Babyshambles took their surprise appearance on stage we were treated to a rock rendition of No Doubt's 'Don't Speak' by competition winners, Isobel. A group of teenage lads who beat off fierce competition by school bands who entered the 'School Of Rock' competition held by the radio station over the past months. They gave a great opener to the night and lads, if you have googled yourselves and are reading this get in contact with us and we'll give you some free promotion!
Next on the bill was the arrival of The Departures (see what we did there?) The upcoming indie lads gave a pretty good show and despite being on a bill with more established bands ensured themselves of at least a few more columns in the music press into 2005. The second surprise act of the night was Tim Wheeler from Ash, the Irish boys were playing The Astoria on the same night, but Tim made a pre-show appearance as he his a great supporter of free publicity/ homeless people (Delete as appropriate!)
One band who have warmth to our hearts this year are The Zutons. We've managed to catch these guys a few times already this year and they never fail to disappoint. 'Keep The Feeling In', ranks highly on our list of favorite songs of 2004. Although don't expect us to print a review of the best music towards the end of this month. Every other publication does it, but to be honest we can't really be arsed and think its blooming pointless. If you must know our favorite live band this year was probably Snow Patrol and favorite film was SAW. That's the end of the ABLE2UK in-depth review of 2004, now on with the review...
Kasabain are the band to watch next year. Back in the spring we caught the guys at a 7am gig at the Barfly as part of the Carling Live 24 day. An event we meant to write up, but thanks to an exhausting day visiting 6 venues within 24 hours we were too bloody exhausted to report back from it. Sorry about that, but we have heard they are doing it again next year so you might be lucky to read a review - don't count on it though! Anyway, back then nobody had heard of the guys, this week, seven months on, Kasabain made the cover of NME, embarked on their first UK tour, performed at Summer festivals and now, the peak of the promoting mountain, have made it onto ABLE2UK! Our verdict? 7 out of 10. If we were marking their homework our red biro would scribe 'Good Work, Bit Of Room For Improvement.'
One of XFM's strongest points is that the station has managed to sign up some pretty bloody good DJ's which include Ricky Gervais and deadpan comic, Jimmy Carr. Carr had a ten minute stand up slot before Razorlight which gave him a taste of what to expect when he returns to the same venue next week for his own show. Tonight though was for music lovers who couldn't really give a toss about his witty one liners and just wanted the final punchline so they could enjoy the next band on the bill, Razorlight.
Johnny Borrell and co. (Razorlight, for the old age pensioners reading this) managed to please the crowd with another great set. The band seem to have secured a place on every single Christmas gig event this Winter. In just a weeks time they will be wowing fans at the Top Of The Pops concert at Sheperds Bush Empire. Instead of showing his naked chest which would have Iggy Pop crying into his Coco Pops (look, we couldn't think of anything else he would cry into- OK?) he wore a suit for the first part of the band's set before climbing onto the speakers which probably had the health and safety guys nurturing each other after suffering a minor heart attack.
The night ended without an after show party (don't worry, we checked!) but we managed to knock back a pint during the finale from Embrace. Even a technical hitch couldn't stop them singing and gave them a chance to sing 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.' The band whose recent album has been given rave reviews from the music press this year gave us all a great early Christmas present unwrapping their greatest hits and a few new tracks. Somewhere, a few miles away. Pete Docherty was either finishing his gig or shooting up in a back alley somewhere. Somehow we think we chose the right place to be tonight!
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Charity is supposed to
begin at home, but when
you are living on the streets
it's a different kettle of fish.
So if you fancy giving a few
quid to the homeless this
Crimbo click HERE. And
give someone a little gift
over this festive period.
THE HELPLINE FOR
'SHELTER' IS
0808 800 4444