Babyshambles Celebrate Patrick Walden at Their Massive Brixton Concert

Babyshambles have honored the “fragile” and “beautifully volatile” Patrick Walden as they made their return to London for a huge Brixton show.

After months of hinting at a comeback tour, the band’s current line up of Pete Doherty, guitarist Mick Whitnall, bassist Drew McConnell and drummer Adam Ficek began their long awaited reunion run in Hastings earlier this month.

Last night, November 16, the indie veterans revisited the O2 Academy Brixton and filled the venue with a run of beloved classics, marking their first time back after more than a decade away.

Reflecting on the night, Ficek thanked the audience for their support and admitted that he had felt anxious to the point of dissociation. “This show was a big one for me, I was actually dreading it,” he wrote. “Thick with grief and the multi coloured emotional rollercoaster that loss invites. Deep deep sadness, anger, and a big hole reminding me of the unfairness and inevitability of life.”

“Patrick you were an incredibly sensitive, fragile, beautifully volatile, daft bastard and I will always miss you dearly. I wish you could have been there tonight. This show marked an important part of my own and the band’s grieving process. The energy in the room made it a very special send off.”

Closing his message, he announced: “We NOW begin the tour.”

Speaking to NME recently about the timing of their comeback, Doherty explained that the reunion only became possible once he and Whitnall had been clean for several years. He also shared that original guitarist Walden, who passed away in June, had been meant to take part in the return.

The singer songwriter said Walden’s death was “a real trigger to get it done.” “My first thought was of just seeing his face up there while we’re playing and that’ll be an important part of it,” he continued.

“There was always talk about it, there was always a desire to play those songs again,” Doherty told NME, “but the centrifugal point of it was addiction really, and the danger that me and Mick would be an unhealthy influence on each other. So it was people around us not wanting to meet up and probably us both knowing that it wasn’t a good idea.”

wanting to meet up and probably us both knowing that it wasn’t a good idea.”