Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres @ Astra in Berlin

Saying something is de puta madre, is a way of saying very colloquially in Spanish that something is very good, (careful not confuse with tu puta madre). Once clarified for the non-Spanish speakers, last Sunday Pete Doherty and his band The Puta Madres stopped at Astra in Berlin, days after publishing an eponymous album.

At the age of 40 and an aspect that adds a few more years, Pete now wants to be called Peter. Perhaps in an attempt to be reborn and leave behind a past of excess, which has been well documented by a press always avid to find scandals often forgetting the great talent behind this messy person. However, I'm very afraid, Pete still goes through life with the pedal to the metal according to his last interviews and this Berlin show.

After the performance of AmyJo Doh & The Spangles (Pete's sister and the person responsible of the meeting back in the 90 ́s between her brother and Carl Barat which among many fights, led to the formation of the Libertines), an awaited Pete appeared, dressed with his classic jacket, pants with suspenders, and around the neck only his characteristic scarf. Although this time he also wore a bandaged hand. Consequence of the injuries caused while saving one of his dogs from the attack of a hedgehog. An episode that took him to the hospital but also to the covers of the British tabloids, which says a lot of the interest that still attracts the enfant terrible of the British music scene.

Booking Pete Doherty must be a nightmare for promoters but it is also a guarantee of a good show. Nonetheless, he is someone with doubtless charisma and an innate talent to make songs whom along his career has alternated as many memorable performances as embarrassing moments. Pete never leaves indifferent and this is something that in such a professionalized and competitive industry, certainly there are just a few like him out there.

Pete Doherty after a concert in Buenos Aires (Argentina) in 2017. Photo by Matias Altbach

With a garage sound of improvised sounds and half-finished songs, Pete with obvious problems to maintain verticality, sang, played the guitar, interacted with the audience, danced and emptied drinks for more than two hours on a stage that he left so many times, that many people due to the confusion, ended up going home probably convinced that the show was over. And those who left missed the last part where he played songs (or at least part of them) from the days that gave him fame and that an audience of infinite patience had long waited for. That was the moment for hymns like Fuck Forever, Delivery (Babyshambles) or What Katie did (Libertines).

Chaotic show from a chaotic individual and a band that at times seems to be as surprised and expectant as the audience. A great show at some moments, maddening at others though. In any case, a show that we´ll keep going to.

Cover photograph by Matias Altbach