April 22, 2007 23:13

Carl Barat plays first gig since Libertines reunion

Dirty Pretty Things are joined by a special guest

Carl Barat played his first show since linking up with Pete Doherty in London tonight (April 22).

As first reported by NME.COM, The Libertines pair stunned fans by appearing onstage together for the first time since their band’s disintegration at the Hackney Empire on April 12.

However tonight Barat was back in the fold with his current band, as Dirty Pretty Things played a charity show at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire as part of the Make Roads Safe campaign – and from the off the group ensured it would be a special night.

Kicking off with brand new song, the melodic ’Tired Of England’, the band filled their set with surprises.

With Dirty Pretty Things having recently gone “underground” writing songs for their second album, the group were keen to show off the fruits of their labours, and along with the opener included new tracks ’Suits Punks Military’, ’Best Face’, ’Plastic Hearts’ and acoustic number ’Come Closer’ in the set.

The group also surprised the enthusiastic crowd, who moshed their way throughout the gig, by introducing the special guest for the evening.

“We’d like to invite our friend to come onstage with us,” Barat told the audience. “Please welcome Mr Tim Burgess.”

The Charlatans' frontman – who had performed with his own group at the Camden Crawl last week (April 20) – then bounded onstage wearing a Inspector Clueso-esque trench coat.

Burgess then took lead vocals on ’Blood Thirsty Barstards’, before Dirty Pretty Things launched into a cover of The Charlatans’ ’North Country Boy’, with the singer duly obliging again with vocals - including the outro which saw them all reprise the chorus of The Rolling Stones’ ’You Can't Always Get What You Want’.

Dirty Pretty Things then wound up the night with a thunderous version of their own hit single ’Bang Bang You’re Dead’.

The band played:

’Tired Of England’
‘The Wondering’
‘Chinese Dogs’
‘Gentry Cove’
‘Suits Punks Military’
‘Deadwood’
‘Doctors And The Dealers’
‘Blood Thirsty Barstards’
‘North Country Boy’/‘You Can't Always Get What You Want’
‘You Fucking Love It’
‘Best Face’
‘Gin And Milk’
‘The Enemy’
‘Plastic Hearts’
‘I Get Along’
‘Come Closer’
‘Burma’
‘Last Of The Small Town Playboys’
‘Bang, Bang You’re Dead’

So was The Libertines' reunion a one off? See this week's NME – on UK newsstands from April 25 - for exclusive interviews with both Barat and Doherty.