Next year is the 20th anniversary of The LIbertines debut album ‘Up the Bracket‘ and it’s around the same length of time since the band last played Mountford hall. In all that time, their popularity still grows as was evident in the packed venue on Saturday night for their Giddy Up A Ding-Dong tour.
It was wall to wall for the emergence of the band who went straight into ‘What a waster‘. The crowd were ignited from the first chord. Singing along and jumping to every word and it was clear from the outset the band still had their edge.
Throughout the set they never let up. Moving from one anthem to another. Even new songs such as ‘Gunga Din‘ and Barbarians got a roaring response. But it is the classics such as Can’t stand me now, Boys in the band, the Ha Ha wall that obviously get the most feverish response. Jumping, sweating bodies push and shove to the music. The band are obviously enjoying themselves and this emanates in the set and into the crowd.
Welcome breaks in the madness come with more stripped back renditions of What Katie did and When the lights go out. The former being beautifully played by Carl Barat on the piano.
Surreal moments came. Having a bunch of Libertines fans start singing The only way is up is a sight to behold. Especially when you consider more than half of the audience were not born when it came out.
The band left the stage for what was possibly the longest time I have ever witnessed (almost 10 minutes) before returning for their encore. The wait was worth it though. Exploding into Don’t Look Back into the Sun and ending on Time for Heroes, it proved that even after 20 years, The Libertines and their music still sounds as good as it did in 2002 and has ability to bring people together.