Last chance to see Dirty Pretty Things

AFTER releasing two albums – 2006's Waterloo To Anywhere and this year's Romance At Short Notice – Dirty Pretty Things announced yesterday they are to split, making Sunday night's gig at the new Picture House venue their last ever Capital appearance.

Frontman Carl Barat explained that the members of the band would be pursuing new musical projects, but that these would not involve his former band, The Libertines.

Of course, given the Libs' history, the news of Dirty Pretty Things break-up doesn't come as too much of a shock.

Theirs may be one of the most shambolic tales in recent rock 'n' roll history, but it started innocently enough with two young dreamers deciding to form a garage band.

The story began with a pasty-faced, doe-eyed poet called Pete Doherty, who fancied himself as a bit of a songwriter but was hopeless with a guitar. Then, Barat came along and taught him to play the instrument, and eventually the pair agreed to combine their talents.

Calling themselves The Libertines (bassist John Hassall and drummer Gary Powell made up the four-piece), they started out playing small, sweaty gigs in their native East London and were soon living up to their name with chaotic, substance-fuelled live performances, all the while creating their own wild-eyed world.

Influences stemmed from the feathered quills of Oscar Wilde and Arthur Rimbaud, all the while delighting quote-hungry hacks with all their talk of "sailing the good ship Albion to Arcadia".

Despite only releasing two albums, no band has been eulogised more in recent years. But what became of the likely lads?

Well, because of Doherty's well-publicised heroin and crack habit, Barat threw him out of the band, vowing that he'd only be allowed back if and when he stopped using. But instead of quitting smack and rejoining the Libs, Doherty stayed on drugs, burgled Barat's flat (for which he was sentenced to six months in jail), and moved his side-project, Babyshambles, centre-stage.

Though 'Potty Pete' has enjoyed more of the limelight since the split, 'the sensible Libertine' hasn't exactly ploughed a lonely furrow.
Barat's post-Libs offshoot, Dirty Pretty Things, reached No 5 in the UK singles chart with first record Bang Bang You're Dead, while debut album Waterloo To Anywhere was another success, buoyed by impressive live showings, such as their sold-out gig at the Corn Exchange two summers ago during T on the Fringe.

Of course, fans still long for the day the good ship Albion sets sail again and, with yesterday's announcement, they could yet get their wish, despite Barat's insistence to the contrary.

Speaking just a day before the split, however, he gave no indication of what was to follow.

"Sorry, I'm still a bit, you know . . .," said a nasal and clearly hungover Barat, when asked about the gig. "But yeah, absolutely up for it, I love Edinburgh.

"We got the new album, so we'll be doing that, but we might play a few Libertines songs. It's basically about our album really, but yeah, it will be a mix," he added.

Of course, drummer Gary Powell used to be in the Libs until their demise in 2004, while guitarist Anthony Rossomando stood in for Doherty after he was sacked. And while Barat insisted this was a different beast entirely, the famed storytelling element of the songs remained as strong as ever, most notably on the new album's lead single Tired Of England.

"That's nice of you to say," said the 30-year-old singer. "It's different this time, because it was more of a collaboration on the second album, so it's all in different directions - know what I mean?

"I think it's more song-writerly and we did it in a lot more time, and I think it's very different because it's the first time we've recorded like that, you know, layer upon layer." Before the news of the split, those hoping for a Libertines reunion were already buoyed by the news Barat and Doherty joined forces again last month when they performed an impromptu set at the Prince of Wales pub in Camden, where Doherty was playing his own material for an MTV documentary before a gaggle of fans. The pair performed classics from their days as leaders of The Libs, including Don't Look Back Into The Sun, which transformed into a rendition of Oasis' Don't Look Back In Anger – though Barat insisted this was an impromptu, once-in-a-while getting together of old pals rather than the beginning of any grand reunion.

"We've not got any plans to do anything again soon," he said. "I just went down to the pub, because I heard my old mate was playing. So anyway, I went down there to watch him play and, inevitably, I got hauled up on stage.

"It turned out to be a good laugh, and that's about it, really," he added. "I see him now and again, we talk on the phone."
Away from music, Barat has been keeping busy, making his acting debut as Gene Vincent in the upcoming film Telstar, which charts the life of pioneering music producer Joe Meek.

"It's been played up a bit. I did, like, a ten-second cameo," he laughed. "But it was interesting, really. I didn't realise I had such a short cameo, and so I started studying the role of Gene Vincent, got the keys to his life and all that, and it turned out it was just a couple of lines."

It seems he enjoyed his stint as an actor so much that he's plotting a return to the big screen and has already landed another film role.
"I have something coming up," he confirmed without giving much away. "It's a different direction (to Telstar) – a part you wouldn't expect me to play, which makes it exciting. I'll be playing a scientist in a new British film which will be weird but cool," he added. "Acting is definitely something I enjoy doing."

Before then, he's looking forward to bringing DPT for a final flurry in a city he has fond memories of, having played La Belle Angele with The Libertines in 2002.

The last time he and his band were here, however, Barat had his arm in a sling, having fallen from a motorbike and broken his collarbone during a drinking session in Taiwan a fortnight earlier.

Thanks to the medication he was on, he can't remember much about the gig. "I had my arm in a what?" he enquired when reminded. "Oh yeah, yeah. I can't remember that much about it, I was pretty delirious at the time.

"I remember I stayed in a hotel room which had a telescope in it," he trailed off. "But that's all I remember about that gig, really."
Following the news of the split, Barat insisted yesterday that the band will "give the last waltz everything".

"We have and are determined to go out as we came in," he said, "after which we all have other ventures to be getting on with and splendid future plans."

Whether or not that means a reunion for The Libertines, only time will tell.

• Dirty Pretty Things, The Picture House, Lothian Road, Sunday, 7pm, £15, 0844-847 1740