Babyshambles reunited on stage last night (August 28) during a solo gig of Pete Doherty‘s – check out footage and images of the moment below.
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The band, who formed in 2003 and ran until 2014, included Doherty, Mick Whitnall (guitar), Drew McConnell (bass) and Adam Fleck (drums), released three albums together: ‘Down In Albion’ (2005), ‘Shotter’s Nation’ (2007) and ‘Sequel To The Prequel’ (2013).
At Northampton’s Roadmender yesterday evening, Doherty was joined by McConnell and Fleck for the latter half of the set for the first time since 2014. Sources told NME that guitarist Mik Whitnall was at the venue before the show too, but was unable to stay for the gig.
As per the Northampton Chronicle and Echo, Doherty gestured to the side of the stage when McConnell and Ficek appeared and played a six-song set that marked a decade since their last performance together.
The band played a version of The Libertines’ ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’ before playing hits including ‘Baddie’s Boogie’, ‘Back From The Dead’ and ‘Albion’ before finishing off with ‘Time For Heroes’ and ‘Killamangiro’.
McConnell has spent the last decade playing with Liam Gallagher in his touring band. Fleck wasn’t the first drummer for Babyshambles but played on their first two albums before departing in 2008.
Check out the moment the band reunited on stage here:
Bit of a coup for the @roadmender in #NN on Wednesday, when a @petedoherty solo show turned into somewhat of a @babyshamblesuk reunion when Drew McConnell and Adam Ficek joined him on stage for the latter half of the gig. #babyshambles #petedoherty #libertines pic.twitter.com/gLBELZM029
— David Jackson (@davidtjackson) August 28, 2024
Top top night @roadmender with @petedoherty – bits of everything! pic.twitter.com/ryoByAP5S5
— Paul Rumens (@plsoj85) August 29, 2024
Back in June, teased a Babyshambles return during an interview with NME.
“Yeah, I’ve been hearing that,” he said. “There have been whispers of that for a while, but now it looks like it’s actually coming together. You’d have to talk to Jai [his manager] about that because I heard he’d met up with Drew [McConnell, former bassist] last week. I think there might even be dates pencilled in.”
When asked if this was for shows or new material, he explained: “Well, definitely for shows. The thing about the ‘Shambles is we had so many songs that we never got round to recording. In fact there’s one, called ‘Ocean’, which is now called ‘Stad Ocean’, which is on the solo album.
“But yeah, it’s just been a question of who’s gonna do what because there was a few Babyshambles line-ups and they’re all brilliant. In an ideal world, we’d get Pat [Walde, guitarist] and Mick [Whitnall, guitarist] playing and then maybe get Gemma [Clarke] and Adam [Ficek] to do some drums.
“Everyone seems to be a bit older and wiser – and cleaner, basically. Everyone’s off the gear, all the hard stuff, so I think we could do it. And I think there’d be a few quid in it as well, because everyone’s skint. I don’t know if Drew’s skint [since] he’s playing with Liam Gallagher, but he might be on session rates.”
The news comes amid a week of reunions – and rumours of reunions – that’s seen Oasis reform and the band announce details of a huge UK and Ireland headline tour.
Dubbed Oasis Live ’25, the tour is due to take place in July and August, and will see Liam and Noel Gallagher perform on stage together for the first time in 16 years.
Likewise, TV On The Radio seem to be teasing a return too, after sharing a cryptic teaser of a potential announcement this week.
Fans are speculating that the Brooklyn band could be making a highly-awaited comeback, after they wiped all the posts on their Instagram account, before re-sharing a singular image.
Linkin Park are also teasing something too. Earlier this week, the band hinted at some kind of activity by sharing a mysterious countdown on their social media accounts. Then, the countdown clock finally reached zero yesterday – only for it to begin counting up again.
The post Watch Babyshambles reunite at Pete Doherty solo gig appeared first on NME.
