Live Review

Carl Barat – Rough Trade East, London

• 8th Oct 2010

So, after the immense summer for Carl, has the Libertines man become bigheaded and up himself? Short answer, no. Tonight was intimate and lovely, the shop packed out with a flurry of attentive fans ready to hear Carl’s new work. The man was in a very socialable mood, interacting with crowd members throughout the gig and allowing them to choose a few of the tracks he played. Accepting a request for ‘Angry Birds!’ or ‘Je Regrette, Je Regrette’ to you and me.

Though the album is good, I’d call it a much more vintage sound from the Libertines man, it talks of good old classic guitar music with a twist.
Tonight, being backed by a cello, double bass, keys, drums and a 2nd guitarist, the sound came alive, though for an audience largely made up of untrained ears, it seemed well received, though hushed to some degree.

Starting with new single, ‘Boys On The Run,’ the crowd were put into a melodic mood from the start, which continued throughout the gig. Up until towards the end when the man himself announced ‘France’ The Libertines demo from Legs 11, with its swaying guitar the putting the crowd in a trance, a good feeling spread around the room. Carl stressed that ‘this ain’t a libs gig, we just did that!’ but still managed to get the crowd going when he played Dirty Pretty Things track ‘Bang Bang,’ followed by a nice little attempt at ‘I Get Along.’

Ending the gig with a surprising rendition of ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun,’ a ‘band favourite,’ energy instantly spread round the room, lyrics blaring out from every mouth.

Though I wouldn’t say this record has the stylistic charm of Libs or Pretty Things, it is Carl all over and plays well live. A grower, I reckon.

Carl Barat – Carl Bart is out now.