IN what was an impressive showing for all bands – openers Reverend and The Makers set the stage for Dundee lads The View – Glasgow turned out for the first night of The Libertines stadium tour at The SSE Hydro filling the arena with fans old and new.
The spirit of the bands on the bill kept emotions high from the get-go, The View zooming through a quick 8 track set of their hits. Kicking off in style with ‘Wasted Little DJs’, the band played a different card at this gig, going in for the kill from the first beat. ‘Grace’, ‘The Don’ and ‘Superstar Tradesman’ caused pints to fly and the floor to dance early on, the energy and charisma from frontman Kyle remaining at its peak.
The Libertines were one of the bands who created The View in many ways, The Dundee lads often citing them as influences in their early material. This show, although a support, is really quite the feat for The View and dropping ‘Same Jeans’ and ‘Sunday’ in the closure of their set, left the crowd in a rapture.
Kicking off their 21 track heavy set with ‘Barbarians’ from 2015’s Anthems for the Doomed Youth, The Libertines returned to Scotland for the first time since their headline slot at T in the Park last summer. With a crowd packed to the rafters and bouncing in unison from the outset, the band rattle through the first few tracks including ‘The Delaney’, ‘Fame and Fortune’ and ‘Boys in the band’.
The animated performance was mirrored by that of the crowd, the band invited international showgirl Katie Crossbones onto the stage ahead of ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’, dressed in the Libertines uniform jacket, serving them drinks from a tray as Pete joked: “I asked for ginger.”
‘Music When the Lights Go Out’ and ‘Time for Heroes’ ended the first part of the set, the band exiting the stage for the encore. ‘Up The Bracket’, ‘What a Waster’ and ‘Don’t Look Back Into the Sun’ ended things on a high, the beautiful marriage of Doherty and Barat showing no signs of divorce, The Libertines loyal girls and boys showing no signs of wavering.
