Riotous fun & newfound reliability: Babyshambles at Victoria Warehouse

After more than a decade away, Babyshambles are officially back. A reunion that once upon a time would have been dismissed as impossible, it feels all the more special for it.

Coinciding with the 20th anniversary of their debut record, Down in Albion, the band are in the midst of a 10-date tour, which included a dreary Sunday evening at Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse.

Announcing the news back in November, Peter Doherty explained: “It’s unfinished business, and everywhere I go I get ‘what’s happening with the ‘shambles.’ It’s a no-brainer for me, a real desire to play some of them old tunes and have a little shindig.”

The group’s last visit to Manchester was in 2014. I was at that gig, too; it barely lasted an hour, and encapsulated the chaos that followed Pete wherever he went during that era. Fast-forward to the 2025 iteration of Babyshambles, and things are very different.

Immediately sounding tighter than they probably ever have, there’s no time wasted in reminding everyone of the magic that garnered such a cult following in the noughties. An opening one-two of Killamangiro and Delivery is just about the perfect way to kick off proceedings — that is, if the influx of pints and jackets soaring overhead is anything to go by.

Beg, Steal or Borrow, which is punctuated by a snippet of the Stone Roses’ Waterfall, is met with pure elation. It’s a theme that remains steadfast throughout the whole night, and it spikes again when the intro to Love Will Tear Us Apart leads into À’rebours.

Seeing Babyshambles was never about a polished audio experience. For better, and often for worse, much of the band’s folklore was built around pandomonium, and it was usually a roll of the dice over which outfit would turn up on the night. That said, getting the chance to hear these songs sound as good as they do on the night is an unexpected delight and hugely heartwarming given all that has come before this moment.

None of that is to say the energy has faded; it’s there by the bucketload. The spiralling guitar and sing-along chorus of 8 Dead Boys is a prime example of it, and it is Babyshambles at their absolute best.

The encore brings another homage to the Roses, as the group launches into a rendition of I Wanna Be Adored, before closing things out with the timeless, anthemic F*ck Forever, which, all these years later, is still met with pure ecstasy.