Live Review: Peter Doherty at the Ritz: a beautifully chaotic hot mess

Here are our thoughts on Peter Doherty’s rescheduled Manchester gig at the Ritz.

Skiddle Staff

Date published: 20th Jul 2023

After three months of waiting, following a last-minute no-show sometime in April, Manchester was more than ready to welcome back Peter Doherty.

On a rainy Tuesday night, gig-goers of all ages flocked to the iconic Ritz to see Peter with his guitar play songs from his far-reaching discography as part of The Battered Songbook Tour.

But first, TRAMPOLENE. Good mates with the main man himself, Jack Jones led a 3-piece with a stripped-down set to complement and lay down the tone of the night ahead.

Welcoming folks in, as the crowds grew bigger, TRAMPOLENE entertained everyone with their poetic lyrics and charismatic frontman. Something that wordsmith Pete enjoyed as he was spotted milling about in the background mid-set getting ready to come on.

The stage set up for the show was interesting as there were all sorts of Libertines and Babyshambles paraphernalia knocking about and the furniture was like something from a 70s living room. There were also two mannequins dressed in both Manchester United and City shirts appealing to both sides of the fence.

In the infamous Pete Doherty style we had come to expect, we were wondering if we had a wait ahead of us as the time was nearing 9 o'clock and the crew was still mid-line check. But sure enough, a very happy-looking Pete interrupted as the soundcheck was happening to begin his 75-minute set bang on time. Nothing was keeping him from his fans tonight.

Pete began by profusely apologising to the crowd and explained that he was simply “on death's door” last time and that he would make it up to us tonight. He was quickly distracted by a member of the audience who was wearing a QPR shirt, bartering to trade him for the Man United shirt onstage.

As a consolation for rescheduling the gig, Pete treated us to Babyshambles’ À Rebours. He even threw in a bit of There is a Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths for good measure and this kind of improvisation was a theme that ran strong throughout the night. Even though this is his Battered Songbook Tour, he certainly wasn't playing by the book.

Trampolene

Photo: TRAMPOLENE / Facebook.com

He then hit us with What a Waster, where Pete saw that the crowd was getting excited and sped up the tempo towards the end of the song accordingly. It soon became noticeable that not only were we there for Pete but he was there for us. This was a joint celebration of his life's work and there was no barrier between artist and crowd.

Fan favourite 'Albion' was played next. A song, wherein the bridge, Pete likes to list random towns in Blighty in no particular order. He chanted the usual 'Manchester la la la' when it came time to reference the city he is currently playing.

He then went on to play Libertines classics like 'Music When the Lights Go Out' and 'What Katie Did, which had the whole crowd shoop-de-lang-alanging along back at him. This really scratched that Libs-shaped itch people came for.

He followed this by playing a new song 'Merry Old England', which talks about welcoming refugees into the country and how we could all be a little more empathetic.

The set concluded with 'Don’t Look Back into the Sun', with Pete’s guitar tech joining him onstage to play electric guitar. This instrumental addition gave a boost of energy to the performance and had everyone singing and dancing along.

Just as the lights came on and we were beginning to leave the venue, thinking that the show had fully concluded, Pete and the boys from TRAMPOLENE came back out. Treating us to a stripped-back rendition of 'Paradise is Under Your Nose' to the surprise of the now half-empty audience.

Pete then left the stage during the refrain, with Jones singing the rest of the song. The unpredictability and madness truly made this a Peter Doherty gig and a memorable one at that.

Quite frankly, it was a hot mess at times but beautifully chaotic all the same.

What did you expect? This is still Pete Doherty after all and isn’t that what we love about him?

Meg Roberts

Catch Peter performing with The Libertines on Sunday 27th August at Cumbria's Solfest. Or check out TRAMPOLENE in Northampton in October. Find tickets for both Solfest and TRAMPOLENE at the very bottom of this page.

Or click or tap here to find upcoming gigs all over the UK.

Check out our What's On Guide to discover even more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.