Pete Doherty says dates are “pencilled in” for a Babyshambles reunion
A Babyshambles reunion looks to be on the horizon, with Pete Doherty confirming that dates are “pencilled in” for their return.
While Doherty is currently still on the road promoting The Libertines’ recent fourth album, All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade, his other project is also on his mind. Originally, Babyshambles was launched in 2003 during Doherty’s hiatus from the Libertines before the band officially disbanded shortly after.
At the time, the musician was banned from playing with the group due to conflict with bandmates, allowing room for Babyshambles to spring up in its place, becoming a musical vehicle for some of his most chaotic years.
Despite the rocky formation and foundation, Babyshambles released a high-standard of work and gained a loyal following of Libertines fans keen to support Doherty in whatever lineup he might land in. With songs like ‘Fuck Forever’ and ‘Delivery’, the songwriter’s lyrical style gained a typically anthemic backing as he created a soundtrack for the 2000s.
While The Libertines has been his priority again since their reformation in 2014, Babyshambles has laid by the wayside for a decade now. However, in a new conversation with NME, he revealed the band could be coming back to life.
When asked about the rumours of a potential reunion, Doherty said, “Yeah, I’ve been hearing that,” seemingly confirming the comeback as he added, “There have been whispers of that for a while, but now it looks like it’s actually coming together.”
However, it seems Doherty isn’t the one spearheading it. “You’d have to talk to Jai [Stanley, Doherty’s manager] about that because I heard he’d met up with Drew [McConnell, former bassist] last week,” he said.
It looks like Babyshambles fans might be in luck as he continued, “I think there might even be dates pencilled in.”
“Definitely for shows,” he confirmed. Additionally, new music could be on the horizon, too, as he added, “The thing about the ‘Shambles is we had so many songs that we never got round to recording.”
It seems to just be a matter of logistics and getting the moving parts in order. “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,” Doherty explained, defining his dream lineup as, “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.”
While Babyshambles burned bright and fast in their original days, the singer believes they’re in a place to do it in a healthier way now. “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,” Doherty said as a final note of optimism for the comeback.
In 2022, during a conversation with Far Out, Doherty hinted at the possibility of reuniting Babyshambles, stating, “If I felt there was a real need for it, if people need to hear those songs live again, it would probably happen.”
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