Babyshamles // Worthing Pier

Rock And Roll puts Worthing on the map…well for one night anyway!!

One balmy night in Worthing last week there was something afoot… as the wind whipped around the rubbish in the streets…there was something in the air…you could smell it…no it wasn’t the Subway down the road or the dodgy chicken place on the corner…It was the smell of rock and roll coming to town!

Gone were the chavs sitting on benches drinking cider… there wasn’t even a zimmer frame in sight (mind you everyone goes to bed at 8.30 in Worthing !)

Instead…. As far as the eye could see, the cool people (yes there are some living here believe it or not!) were awakening from their long long hibernation and emerging from their respective abodes for a night that was to become that of myth and legend.

The cheesy nightclub on the end of the pier had been transformed into a veritable Bar Fly- esk venue for the night’s main event – Mr Peter Doherty and his band Babyshambles.

Having paid an extraordinary amount for the ticket (Moz you know who you are!) and having heard Mr Doherty is rumoured to be somewhat unpredictable, I was expecting it to be the biggest no show Worthing had ever seen, however upon arriving and having a wee squiz at the crowd, this was not to be the case.

The fat girls in short skirts and the blokes wearing checked Ralph Lauren shirts had replaced with big haired Indie kids of all shapes and sizes as well as a few celebs mixed in for good measure…Spotted were the guys from Hope of the States, Dot Allison, Zane Lowe, One or two members of The Ordinary boys, Velcro, The Others, Corner Shop, NME, The Sun, some guy from Virgin Music and of course the soon to be huge, Early Morning Soundtrack…. as well as Mr Doherty himself of course!

The night was kicked off with a crashingly breathtaking performance from EMS, who’s clash of electro sounds and hard hitting heavy guitar is like a cross between Radiohead and The Cooper Temple Clause and who’s lead singer was a Robert Smith, Liam Gallagher, Nick Cave hybrid…Fabulous guys…you’re gonna do it you know!

This was followed up by a strange fill in performance by one of the guys from the other support band who was obviously a bit worse for wear and just seemed to be playing the same songs on a guitar. This did however provide everyone with plenty of time to prop the bar and indulge in some serious alcohol consumption.

Time passed and some serious rock and roll networking was being done, then on came London based band The Paddington’s who’s performance was flipping fantastic (go see em!) and really got everyone in the mood for getting up there and having it L.A.R.G.E.

Enter Mr Doherty and the place went wild, all cautions like “I haven’t even heard any Babyshambles tracks, or do you think he’ll be any good without the rest of the Libertines?” were thrown to the wind and the mosh pit was full of guys and girls throwing out a plethora of drunken shapes.

As for his performance, I have this to say…”Mr Doherty, whatever people say about you being a weird junky that hangs out in various states of undress all around the country, you are a gentleman…and a true legend who has superstar quality and unbelievable presence on stage. Everyone that saw you fell in love with your talent and charisma, so don’t fuck it up alrite?”

One o’clock came and went and there were many happy faces to be seen staggering back along the pier and off into the starry night, back to their comfy beds ready to dream of being on stage at Wembley and preparing themselves for their Thursday morning hangovers.

Upon managing to weave past the bewildered bouncers at the gate (One too many shandies me thinks!) I came across a lonely sight. One Mr Pete Doherty no one else around, sitting on the pavement also little worse for wear.

So Pete, thanks to you for the photo and conversation, as well as propping me up before my mates got there to give me a piggy back home!

Moral of the story?

Don’t drink more than 5 shots of whisky on a Wednesday when you have work the next day.

Don’t come and live in Worthing (It was a one off ok? Oh apart from when me dad saw Bowie at the Pavilion – but that was in 1968!)

Go and see Babyshambles, you will love it – promise.

Sophia (15th of July 2004)

Words: Sophia