Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres Banner shot (1 of 1) — Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres

By Desh Kapur, Rock At Night Manchester

Venue: O2 Ritz Manchester-May 9, 2019-Peter Doherty And The Puta Madres

Tonight wasn’t sold out for one of Britain’s iconic rock and rollers, Pete Doherty (Libertines, Babyshambles) but the love in the room was enough to fill Wembley Stadium and that, my friends, is a beautiful thing.

I didn’t quite catch the first band on, but I did manage to catch the second band Dirty Laces, an up and coming Manchester band. Now this is an odd one for me, there is a bit of a vibe on this band; people are talking about them and they are getting some very cool shows. I’m seeing their name on festival posters and the punters in the venue tonight are really digging them. Which has me asking the question, am I missing something here? Yes they are tight, the singer has a very very good voice, they play very well, and they play pumping Manchester indie, BUT that’s exactly what bothers me. It’s so very Oasis, Liam Gallagher, bit of the Roses and to be honest I was looking for a bit more.

Jack Jones of Peter Doherty and the Puta Madres

Then there was a quick and rather irritating bit of magic from The Magic Mod, I not sure what that was about.

Then, quick as a flash and pretty much on time, for a nice change, on strolled Pete Doherty with his band of Puta Madres. Meet Miggles (bass), Katia DeVidas (Piano/keyboards), Trampolene’s Jack Jones (lead guitar) and Rafa (drums). Peter Doherty is a clev

er and intelligent man and so are his lyrics. He also has the ability to write great songs; his back catalogue is testament to that. And it is no different with The Puta Madres, catchy and infectious songs, faint traces of New Orleans mix with sprinklings of Irish folk or maybe Welsh??? And his natural stage presence gives the whole night a feeling of excitement and every quiet moment is filled with adulation from his on–looking fans.

My favourite track of the night is also the bands new single ‘Paradise Is Under Your Nose’ it features the band’s guitarist Jack Jones sharing vocals with Doherty. It’s gentle and lilting and vocally Pete’s voice is perfectly fragile, I love the backward and foreword vocals with Jack Jones, and a great tune to boot.

So maybe the odd hard-core Libertines fan left a bit disappointed but everyone else seemed to love spending a evening in the company of Peter Doherty and they left smiling and happy.