Carl Barat

Arriving on the top floor of The Deaf Institute's dimly lit music hall I was overwhelmed by the red flock parrot decor and the wall of old stereo speakers, squeezed behind the bar to form an interesting focal point.

But it wasn't the wall of speakers that was the main focus on Saturday night. The ex-Libertine, Carl Barat was playing at the DI, as part of his tour, to promote the release of his first self titled, solo album.

Interestingly, band members included his brother, Ollie Barât on a Rickenbacker guitar and his pregnant girlfriend Edie Langley, from the Langley Sisters, playing the cello.

The audience gave out a massive cheer as Barat was the final member to ascend the crammed stage. The night kicked off with 'Je Regrette Je Regrette' followed by his new single 'Run with the Boys' before lurching into an old Libertines favourite 'The Man Who Would be King'.

Clad in his signature black skinny jeans, tight leather jacket and taking occasional sips from a large glass of Havana Club, Barât sang most of the tracks from his new album, songs from Dirty Pretty Things (Deadwood and Bang Bang) and the Libertines (Death on the Stairs and Time for Heroes amongst others). As he strummed the first chords of their anthemic 'Up the Bracket', revellers went into a frenzy and surged towards the stage, the dance floor shook and I'm surprised we didn't all end up in the basement.



Eventually stripping down to his sweat drenched vest he exposed the 'all important' mark inked into his flesh that represents an exuberant, yet turbulent episode of his life.

Following the acoustic encore, Barat's band joined him on stage for their performance of one the Libertines most epic songs 'Don't Look Back Into The Sun'

Don't look back into the sun
Now you know that the time has come
And they said it would never come for you…

Despite his meteoric rise to success with the Libertines, his tempestuous relationship with Doherty and his later success with DPT Carl Barat seems more balanced and content with his life now and he's certainly in love.

During the evening Barat introduced Edie to the audience and gave her a tender kiss confirming he's proud of what he has achieved and that he's recovered from the chaotic life of extremes on the Doherty rollercoaster.

With the release of his book 'Threepenny Memior – The Lives of a Libertine', the solo career and with a baby on the way, Barat is closing the disturbing chapters of his past life.

The ex-Libertine has matured, the Carl Barat we see on stage today is confident, perhaps a little tired, but exuberantly happy with the ways it's all turned out.

This could very well be...

One of the best years of his life.

FUTURE GIGS

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