Notes - The music blog
Exploring Sheffield: Marta sees...Babyshambles
Every Wednesday, Marta brings a slice of the Mediterranean to Sheffield to see if the music scene really differs at all.
Recently I went to see Babyshambles at the O2 Academy. The reason for this is that one of the best friends I met in Sheffield (the one who helped me search every single, revolting dust-bin in the city when my computer was stolen and the thief confessed to having “hidden it” under a trash can) was leaving.
I was a little prejudiced against Babyshambles. It’s just that I thought Pete Doherty was one of the biggest dickheads England has ever seen, that he was a living embarrassment and I felt bad for English people having to share the nationality with such a prick. In my opinion, The Libertines were the most overrated band in the world and Babyshambles just as boring, but at least less successful. They stick to English indie music like drunken hooligans stick to the UK: a pestering stereotype that carries along some truth.
In short, I wasn’t really keen on paying £23 for this concert, but friendship rightfully prevailed. And of course, part of me was curious to see this guy which English people apparently go nuts for live.
I must admit I took my time and arrived quite late, so I lost the first quarter of the concert. Thank God. It is always bad when bad prejudices are confirmed. Pete Doherty was already completely drunk: the pace was one pint per song and by the 4th track he had already become embarrassing, a sign that probably he got on stage already drunk. He choked on the mic, barely touched the guitar, and he kept tripping on the wires making funny faces.
But Pete - and here I think I can talk on behalf of your fans as well - no one paid £23 to look at you getting drunk. We paid to see you sing. A lot of singers get drunk as fuck on stage and they do the most absurd things; England has a very long tradition of craziness on stage. But if you are a real singer, you are also able to sing. Even if you’re drunk. Only a spoiled, arrogant brat can think he can jump on stage, trip into everything he sees and simply whine into the mic. I’m pretty sure in my entire life I will never ever see anything more off-key than Pete Doherty on the stage of the 02 Academy on Thursday, December 10th, 2009. Not even if I put a mirror in my shower. The fans were singing better than he did. I am also pretty sure alcohol and drugs have little to do with the poor performance - and when I say poor, I mean that at a certain point he fell from the stage onto the ground of the Academy.
He simply has no talent. He was an interesting looking 20 year-old who got some fame and now he has stretched it out thanks to gossip and a band that is technically really good. But that’s X-Factor fame, it’s not leaving a mark in the music you do.
Now that he’s reached 30, he can’t even be considered a fashion icon. He looks old, and done. On an aesthetic level, there is a specific reason why Sid Vicious died of overdose when he was 21. That was, in a perverted way of course, genuine coherence. After you’ve reached 25, either you grow up and become a real musician or you retire. A fucked up teenager going on 31 is just unbearable.
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