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Yes you have read the title of this post right. You may have been expecting a post along the lines of ‘When Will The Libertines Reform’ or ‘What Will Happen When The Libertines Reform’.
Over the past few months rumours of the band reforming have been coming thick and fast. Since May I have written that The Libertines reunite for one off performance, that The Libertines rumours keep coming and the fact that Doherty said there would be a Libertines reunion in 2010. All these rumour seem genuine and it seems only a matter of time before Peter and Carl will once again be making sweet sweet music (so to speak…)
Well… That’s what we all imagine, in this post however I will be highlighting my doubts about the likely lads once again becoming the boys in the band.
First of all, don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Libertines fan. I always have been since first listening to the bands debut album ‘Up The Bracket’ in it’s entirety in my mates car. It was like a breath of fresh air, an epiphany if you will and from that moment on there has always been a place in my heart for The Libertines.
Peter and Carl’s relationship intrigues me. It’s not often you witness two heterosexual men who seem so close without large amounts of money being involved. How can something that worked so well have fallen apart so quickly? One word, drugs.
Now I’m not trying to preach here, but Doherty had it all and threw it all away. He was part of one of the most talked about bands of the 00′s, could have had any woman he wanted (and did with Kate Moss) and most of all had a great friendship with Barat.
If you ever need an example of the detrimental effect of drugs then Doherty is a good place to start. Thankfully Peter is a very clever bloke, he has rode the storm and no one can deny he is a genius with a pen and paper. Thanks to a strong and very faithful fan base built from The Libertines Peter managed to move on to other projects and still receive critical acclaim.
Due to everything that has happened in the past though I’m not sure if the bridge Peter and Carl may be treading across will be high enough for all the water to pass under it. I guess we will have to wait and see but there are a number of things bothering me about The Libertines reforming.
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First of all, will they be as good as they were?
My initial instinct says yes of course they will. But what if they’re not, what if, after everything that has happened the band just don’t gel any more. There will be a lot of pressure coming from the record label to produce pre break up quality tracks in a short amount of time. After quite a free reign in the past this may come as a bit of a shock.
The last thing fans, critics and the band will want is a piss poor release tarnishing the legacy of The Libertines forever.
I think this is where some of my doubts may come from. The Libertines could be compared to a holiday romance. A fairytale which you look back on and sigh but know that it could have never worked in the real world. Your love of it is the memories which you have and can share from time to time. Sometimes you try and give it a go when you get back home but it’s just never the same, the spark just isn’t there. If The Libertines were to reform and not live up to the hype which will undoubtedly be placed upon them then the romantic past would be lost forever.
Can Peter stay clean?
If not then surely history is just going to repeat itself again. I’m not sure what the latest is with Peter and the drugs but I heard that he is once again using an implant.
Recently Peter has said he can juggle The Libertines, Babyshambles and his solo stuff all at the same time. If he has any hope of being able to work such a busy schedule then he no doubt needs to stay off the drugs and organise himself and his time productively.
There were obviously problems, very well documented problems, which lead to the sinking of the albion first time around. No one would want to see the band unravel again in such a public light for all the world to see.
Can Carl forgive Peter?
Carl and Peter’s relationship deteriorated very quickly in 2003. Carl was unhappy with the company Peter was keeping due to the drugs, his lack of appearances during recording and missing tour dates on The Libertines European Tour.
Everything finally came to a head when Barat refused to let Doherty be part of the band until he was clean. So distraught at this was Doherty that he preceded to burgle Barat’s flat, resulting in his subsequent arrest and imprisonment for two months.
Once released from prison recording began on the bands second album. Tension was still high and security for Barat and Doherty were breaking up fight between the two more often than anything else. Peter was admitted to rehab on numerous occasions after his release from prison but never completed a program.
So can Carl put everything from the past behind him and forgive Peter and work with him to rekindle what they had in the past? I certainly hope so. But once again there are questions to ask. Would the stress of spending days upon days in the recording studio and having to meet deadlines the label are giving end up surfacing the cracks which appeared to have been covered? I guess there can only be one way to find out.
Would they be doing it for the money?
I would certainly hope not as that is not what The Libertines were ever about. The Libertines were always about the music, I think anyone can see that the band loved what they did and money was never high on the list of agenda. Check out some of the videos on YouTube where they are playing their music to a handful of people, obviously not getting paid any money but being paid in the satisfaction that they are making people happy.
After some of the rumours of stupid amounts of money being offered to play places such as Reading & Leeds Festival I just hope the boys don’t lose some of their integrity by reforming just for the money. It would be against everything that The Libertines once stood for and participated in.
This brings me on to my final point which involves you the fan.
Will the gigs ever be the same?
The above will never happen if The Libertines reunite. That’s a fact. There will be so much hype and press surrounding the band that demand for tickets will be through the roof. The Libertines will end up playing bigger venues which lack the same atmosphere and crowd involvement seen in the early days of the band.
This is a shame because the band had such an energy and spark which could be fully appreciated by the crowd. If they reform then you may be at the back of a venue with a few thousand people, or god forbid 50,000 if the band were ever to do an arena tour, and miss out on the intensity and drive which brought so much acclaim in the first place.
All in all I would love to see the band reform, I just don’t want them to tarnish the romantic history I associate with them. I love going back and listening to their albums and knowing that all the lyrics come from the heart and mean something. From the heartbreaking lyrics in ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’ which documented Peter and Carl’s very public falling out,
“No you’ve got it the wrong way round
you shut me up and blamed it on the brown
cornered the boy kicked out at the world…the world kicked back
alot fuckin’ harder now”
To the blasé attitude in ‘I Get Along’,
“I get along singing my song,
People tell me I’m wrong..
Fuck ‘em!”
I would hate to lose the feeling and meaning behind The Libertines and their lyrics due to it being lost in a sea of media hype and anticipation.
Maybe I am being too negative and should give them a chance. Am I? Probably but the band have a lot to lose in my eyes. They built up a loyal fan base from the ground up and if they reunite for the wrong reasons could lose a lot of the respect they built.
Here are a couple of MP3′s to reminisce on the good old days.
The Libertines – Can’t Stand Me Now
That’s my very detailed view on The Libertines now I want to know what you think.
Should the band reform? Am I being too negative? Would you go and see them if they did reform?
Let me know in the comments below. Share this post with your friends and find out their opinion by using the various links below.
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