Disclaimer: This is a review of a concert I did not go to.
Having toyed for a few months with the idea of going to The Libertines concert in Warsaw (November 4), I decided not to do that in the end. The concert was affordable, and there were tickets. But you see, there are certain things in life which should not just be viewed as part of history - but should remain that. Listening to The Libertines and Peter Doherty twenty years ago was a revelation. Up the Bracket and Down in Albion in particular. It would be hard to explain today, in 2022, what exactly it meant to be completely wiped out by the chorus of "The Good Old Days" or the fucked-up emotional intensity of "Albion", but that was like being dragged across the cobblestone and actually enjoying that. It was different. And it was special.
And now, in 2022, when I saw a poster advertising The Libertines playing at a club in Warsaw, my first impulse was of course to go for it. But oddly, the idea made me feel uncomfortable. After all, I had just listened to the new album of Peter Doherty and loved it. In fact, if you asked me now that we are coming towards the end of the year, I would say The Fantasy Life Of Poetry And Crime is one of the most underrated records of 2022. It is broken, tuneful, romantic, and it plays to Doherty's strengths. There is that unmistakable brittle beauty in something like "The Epidemiologist" and "Abe Wassenstein", and there are charming vestiges of past anthemic glories in "You Can't Keep It From Me Forever". Seeing this man play "Time For Heroes" and "Boys In The Band" would not make any sense to me. It would probably not make any sense to him either.
I am not talking about Carl Barât not releasing anything of note in years. I am not talking about Peter Doherty living with his new partner in some French house and indulging in his obsession with cheese. It is not about any of that. It is my imagination drawing vivid (and, let's be honest, we all have access to YouTube) pictures of Peter Doherty and Carl Barât huddled by the single boom stand and screaming "Don't Look Back Into The Sun" in that impossibly sad and tuneless barroom manner. Also, my imagination is drawing something else... them huddled by the single boom stand in the good old days and meaning every word which they sing.
And also, there is reality. The reality is that I still love Peter Doherty. And yes, his album in 2022 was excellent. And today I would rather be in a lonely French mansion, listening to him doing this (see video below). To me, this is not sad. This is beautiful.
