March 31, 2010 19:05

The Libertines play guerilla gig together in London

Band reunite in front of the world's media to play pub gig

Photo Gallery: The Libertines
Photo: PA Photos

The Libertines played together tonight (March 31) for the first time since announcing their reformation, taking to the stage in London for an impromptu show.

The band were originally supposed to be holiding a press conference at north London pub The Boogaloo to discuss why they decided to reform to play this year's Reading And Leeds Festivals. However, after a 25-minute chat with the press, Pete Doherty, Carl Barat and John Hassall all strapped on guitars and played their first songs as The Libertines since 2004.

The band, with drummer Gary Powell standing in the wings, kicked off with a cover of old standard 'Georgia On My Mind', seaguing the song into 'The Good Old Days' from The Libertines' debut album 'Up The Bracket'.

Doherty and Barat shared vocals - as well as sly winks and jokes - throughout the set, with Hassall also chipping in from time to time. Playing a range of tracks from their career, the band aired the likes of 'Death On The Stairs', 'France' and 'Can't Stand Me Now'.

Band friend 'Rabbi' John Connor - a regular at early Libertines gigs - also joined them for a run through of sea shanty 'Sally Brown'.

After playing a short segment of the solo from 'Time For Heroes', Barat instructed the audience he was "going for a piss", and with that, the rest of his bandmates decided to finish the gig.

The Libertines played:

'Georgia On My Mind'
'The Good Old Days'
'Music When The Lights Go Out'
'France'
'Death On The Stairs'
'Sally Brown'
'Can't Stand Me Now'
'Time For Heroes'

Head to the NME Office Blog now to watch complete footage of The Libertines' comeback gig and press conference

See this week's issue of NME, on UK newsstands now to read the group's first interview in five years, during which they talk about their upcoming shows at this year's Reading and Leeds festivals.