The Medusa Fora

From: http://www.rte.ie/arts/2008/0514/dohertyp.html

Pete Doherty returned to the stage to a roaring reception in North London after a 29 day spell in jail, where he was joined by Shane McGowan for a rendition of 'Dirty Old Town'.

The 29-year-old singer played a gig in his trademark trilby last night, appearing controlled and musically on form, although he admitted to the crowd that he was "a bit rusty" after his spell in prison.

Aside from singing with McGowan, Doherty and his band Babyshambles played songs from their two albums to date, including crowd pleasers 'Delivery', 'Pipe Down' and 'Kilimangiro', and some new material.

Doherty, who received a certificate for staying clean while in prison, claims to have kicked his drug habit during his time inside.

Excerpts from his prison diary will appear in this month's edition of NME.

Another report here: http://www.nme.com/news/babyshambles/36592

Pete Doherty makes post-prison comeback

Band joined by Shane MacGowan in London
May 14, 2008

Pete Doherty made his live comeback with Babyshambles last night (May 14) at the London Kentish Town Forum.

The gig was his first since being released from Wormwood Scrubs prison, where he served 29 days of a 14-week sentence for breaching probation.

Doherty arrived at the venue at 9:20pm (BST) and signed a guitar for a fan before entering the building. He had a brief acoustic jam upstairs in the Babyshambles dressing room before heading onstage and opening with 'Pipedown'.

The singer/guitarist joked about being "a bit rusty" and draped a flag over the drum kit.

Eight songs into the set The Pogues' frontman Shane MacGowan came onstage and performed vocals for Ewan MacColl's song 'Dirty Old Town', wearing a large top hat. Later in the set Babyshambles covered 'Cool For Cats' by Squeeze.

The set was raucous and frenetic, with Doherty clearly pumped to be back on stage. There were a series of fan invasions during the gig, with security guards tussling with crowd members as they attempted to get near the singer.

The band ended with an encore, including regular set closer 'Fuck Forever'.

good video of it on youtube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=w1nDEzUjBow

And a picture in this week's NME: http://www.nme.com/photos/443/1/this-we ... ay-20-2008

The rest of James Quinton's photos can be found here.
(onstage with Babyshambles and backstage with Pete)

firehazard wrote:And a picture in this week's NME: http://www.nme.com/photos/443/1/this-we ... ay-20-2008

I wonder if it was intentional or not that the phrase "Enjoy Kopparberg Responsibly" appears directly beneath the photo.

Kriss wrote:

firehazard wrote:And a picture in this week's NME: http://www.nme.com/photos/443/1/this-we ... ay-20-2008

I wonder if it was intentional or not that the phrase "Enjoy Kopparberg Responsibly" appears directly beneath the photo.

Indeed. And the other thing I want to know is, is someone about to try to steal Shane's hat? There's a stray hand poised just above...

firehazard wrote:

Kriss wrote:

firehazard wrote:And a picture in this week's NME: http://www.nme.com/photos/443/1/this-we ... ay-20-2008

I wonder if it was intentional or not that the phrase "Enjoy Kopparberg Responsibly" appears directly beneath the photo.

Indeed. And the other thing I want to know is, is someone about to try to steal Shane's hat? There's a stray hand poised just above...

Actually, it looks more like the disembodied hand is changing Pete's IV bag.

Kriss wrote:Actually, it looks more like the disembodied hand is changing Pete's IV bag.

Yeah, looking at it again, that's true. Medusa has perhaps made me over alert to the danger posed by hat thieves.

"Good evening. I'm Shane MacGowan and I sing Dirty Old Town" - classic

Alex wrote:good video of it on youtube:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=w1nDEzUjBow

Thanks for the link Alex.

That's a superb bit of footage, that! Excellent performance. Shane's top notch.