Gary Flockhart: Phoenix, Doves and The Libertines make for a cracking month

Published on Thursday 2 September 2010 10:37

FOR ones whose live shows have been described as hideously shambolic, and whose career was marked by an impressive ability to implode in a drug-fuelled haze every time mainstream success beckoned, The Libertines made a right good stab of their two highly anticipated reunion shows at Leeds and Reading festivals last weekend.

I admit I was as sceptical as the next fan when I heard they were getting back together for these one-off gigs, my first thought being they shouldn't bother.

After all, nine times out of ten it's the lure of the loot that's behind any decision to return and, especially in the case of the Libs, you had to think the rumoured 1.2 million appearance fee was too great to turn down. After all, Pete Doherty has to pay his court fees somehow.

Be that as it may, the London band rose to the occasion. The musicianship was a lot sharper than it was when they split up six years ago, while now classic songs like Don't Look Back Into The Sun, Time For Heroes and Can't Stand Me Now saw dual frontmen Carl Barat and Doherty switching mics and trading verses like it was the good old days.

All the talk now is whether the band will go on from these triumphant live shows and fully reform, though it's anyone's guess if that is going to happen.

So fractious was the relationship between Doherty and Barat back in the day it was fair to assume the Libs weren't built to last past their two albums anyway.

But whether or not they do make another studio album - Barat has since said he'd like to write some more songs with his old mucker - they at least showed at the Leeds and Reading festivals that all those claims about them being the band of their generation weren't so ridiculous.

Impressive, but not the only musical highlight of my weekend.

At the HMV Picture House on Saturday, French retro-popsters Phoenix put on a right good show as part of the Edge festival.

They opened with the perfect pop of Lizstomania, and played a set that included Consolation Prizes, Run Run Run and Girlfriend, before bringing it all to a glorious peak with final number 1901.

Another cracking concert in August was that of Doves at the HMV Picture House - the band putting on a 90-minute show that was brimming with atmosphere and tension from start to finish.

I'd been impressed watching the Manchester miserablists at the same venue just a year earlier, and they were arguably even better this time around.

The great thing about seeing a band who have been around as long as this lot, is there's hardly any filler.

As you'd expect, the songs that went down best with the 1500-strong crowd were oldies like Here It Comes, There Goes The Fear and The Last Broadcast - though it was the moments when they diverged from their epic indie rock formula that impressed most.