Babyshambles - Columbiahalle - Berlin

Let's see, how do I write this gig up. Columbiahalle, a pretty bland venue in the perspective of many other historic buildings around the area, was to host Pete and the Babyshambles, and all of us in the building were not sure as to if he was going to show up or not, he didn't show up for the opening stop of the tour in Cologne.

I'm eating some bland food at the tourist stop of choice until a bit after 11, I hop in the cab and head towards the gig, thinking, hmmmm, I'll get there right on time. However, getting there, the locals say 'the plane is late' to arrive. Well the Berliner Pils is flowing, I'm talking to some folks about music, and about 1.45 A.M. Pete FINALLY makes it to the stage, and the performance about to be done was f*ckin' brilliant.

Singing songs of Babyshambles and Libertines, the show was amazing, the intangibles added up to be one the the best shows I've ever seen. The dude is in the news all the time, it's all marketing bullshit, but behind all that it's a substantial experience.

There's a lot to be said about his charisma and appearance. Some highlights of the evening were Albion, What Katy Did, and old school libertines 'Time for Heroes.' Many songs got the crowd hoppin', and there were many that were slow, there were yet more where Pete just eek's out weird sounds, and many subtleties that made the show / band unique

12 liters deep into the evening, the show ends just after 4pm, 2+ hours of playing. Yea, then began the adventure of finding my way home without the address of the hotel.....Ummmm, cab to TierGarten Park please.......(which is the size of Central Park New York) --

Night ends slightly after 5am, with blurry visions of perfection in my head.

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Some videos of the performance. I couldn't get close, it was a rough crowd.

1. Pipedown (Opener)
2. Albion
3. La Belle et la Bete
4. La Belle et la Bete 2
5. What Katy Did
6. Time For Heroes
7. F*ck Forever