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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.”
Babyshambles’ setlist was:
‘Killamangiro’
‘Delivery’
‘I Wish’
‘Sedative’
‘Beg, Steal or Borrow’
‘There She Goes’
‘La Belle et la Bête’
‘Back From the Dead’
‘Unstookie Titled’
‘Carry On Up the Morning’
‘8 Dead Boys’
‘Baddie’s Boogie’
‘À rebours’
‘Albion’
‘Dandy Hooligan’
Encore:
‘Crumb Begging Baghead’ (With intro questionnaire regarding the crowd’s dogs)
‘The Man Who Came to Stay’
‘Pipedown’
‘Fuck Forever’
Babyshambles’ debut album was 2005’s ‘Down In Albion’, and was followed with two further studio albums: 2007’s ‘Shotter’s Nation’ and 2013’s ‘Sequel To The Prequel’. The band shared their first new single in 12 years, ‘Dandy Hooligan’, yesterday (Wednesday November 5).
You can find any remaining tickets for Babyshambles’ UK tour here, and see the full list of dates below.
Babyshambles’ UK tour dates for 2025 are:
NOVEMBER
26 – O2 Academy, Birmingham
29 – Mountford Hall, Liverpool
30 – O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
DECEMBER
01 – Middlesbrough Empire, Middlesbrough
02 – O2 City Hall, Newcastle
04 – O2 Academy, Glasgow
05 – O2 Academy, Glasgow
07 – O2 Academy, Leeds
08 – Rock City, Nottingham
09 – O2 Academy, Bristol
15 – KOKO, London
The band recently announced a 20th anniversary reissue of ‘Down In Albion’. The remastered and expanded edition will feature numerous session tracks, rarities and B-sides from that era.
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