He Knows He's Losing It

(Photo by Jasmine)

NME Reports:

PETE DOHERTY was pulled off the stage by his management and "completely lost it" as part of a chaotic gig at the BLACKPOOL EMPRESS BALLROOM last night (December 15). Doherty's new group Babyshambles played at the venue as part of a UK and Irish tour which has already visited London, Belfast, Dublin and Glasgow. Fans at the show have contacted NME.COM, concerned at Pete's physical state at the gig. They say he was forgetting songs and at times could barely stand. Things got so bad that the rest of the band walked off stage. One fan told NME.COM: "Everyone can see he wasn't well. Pete was looking really bad, forgetting his lines and almost falling to sleep. Members of the band kept having a word in his ear but a few songs in the guitarist just got fed up and left. The rest of the band followed and Pete tried to play on his acoustic."

Other fans have claimed that a member of the band's crew physically attempted to remove Doherty from the stage in a headlock. Another said: "Pete played about four songs before the guitarist stormed off. Pete looked bemused and the rest of the band members decided to leave the stage. He played a couple of Libertines songs on his guitar and carried on. But a member of their road crew was buzzing around him on stage after every song trying to get him off. After about half an hour of the set someone came on and eventually dragged him offstage in a headlock to a chorus of boos.

"When they came back on the crowd were really angry. They were throwing bottles at the stage and shouting abuse but the band carried on and played a couple of songs including 'Killamangiro'. The band went offstage again and Doherty followed them shortly after.

"The crowd were getting more and more pissed off at this point and people started leaving. When he came back on at about midnight, he started playing a few Libertines tracks and he seemed to come round again. They tried to get him off again. But Pete tore his T-shirt off and dived into the crowd. He then climbed on the speakers. He was going mad. He didn't have a clue what he was doing."

From the gig, Pete then went to Liverpool for a second show at the Zanzibar. Fans there have said the performance was just as bad. One told NME.COM: "He played without his band last night and it was bloody shambolic. He turned up two hours late and played some awful songs." There is currently no comment from the band's official spokesperson. The tour is scheduled to continue tonight in Sheffield (December 16) and return to London for the Astoria on Saturday.