I arrive in Milan around 9:00 PM.

I'm not a local, I explore via Novara, pass through via delle Forze Armate three times before finding the Rainbow, but I take it easy; the start is scheduled for 9:30 PM, but knowing Pete, I'm definitely not in a hurry. I manage to set foot inside the venue when a terrifying roar erupts, I turn around, it's him, it's Pete... not even 10 meters from me, incredibly early, incredibly sober and with a few extra pounds than usual. He says something into the microphone, I didn't catch a damn thing but who cares, a couple of chords strike up two seconds later, I recognize them, it's "Pipedown", the chorus starts, everyone jumps, the pogo begins. Pete goes wild, he's in great shape, obviously, he's left the singing at home, enters late, hits high notes where there are none, stretches out song phrases with distorted words but that's his style and I don't see the slightest bit of disapproval in the eyes of the people around me. We were all aware that we were participating in something historic for our generation, like our older brothers when they went to Rome to see Nirvana and we were too damn young... bastards!!!

I don't remember the concert's setlist in order, I only know that from "Down in Albion", they performed the aforementioned as well as "La Belle et la Bete" with Kate Moss who sang the chorus and even got hit with a few water bottles... ha ha ha (she spent the rest of the concert sitting on the side of the stage dancing and shaking her head like crazy... she was surely high without a shadow of a doubt), obviously closing the concert with "Fuck Forever" as is their habit, with Pete armed with only a microphone (he played the guitar for the rest of the concert), a song with which they made the most racket, although without ever overdoing it. Which is good when you think about it because they were serious and committed to making a good concert, but it's a shame he didn't stage dive onto the audience, damn it!!!

They followed with (not in this order) "Sticks n Stones", which came out excellently, and it's needless to say the chaos that ensued during the two rhythm accelerations, "Killamangiro" also wildly acclaimed and perfectly executed, "Albion" the only real moment of apparent calm in the whole concert, extremely touching were the choruses from us in the audience during the refrain, "Back from the death" and "Loyality Song" in which the guitarist (by the way, unrecognizable with short hair and a few extra pounds) had quite a few issues with the harmonica... whose sound was practically inaudible despite his continuous gestures of disapproval. Besides the songs from "Down in Albion" we heard 4 or 5 unreleased tracks all very nice (one in particular, even though I heard them live so I didn't understand all of them very well) that will probably be part of the "Blinded Ep" coming out in early December, the only one I recognized, and I wasn't the only one, was the beautiful, sublime, impeccable "Beg Steal or Borrow". Additionally, dear Pete wanted to get nostalgic by playing "Time for Heroes" and "What Katie did?" by the Libertines for the joy of that slut Moss, who is increasingly becoming the Yoko Ono of the 2000s... but if she breaks up Babyshambles or ruins Pete, she won't see 2007.

Overall it was a great concert, 4 stars, as it wasn't the concert of a lifetime, but the band gave their all. Nonetheless, I limited it to 3 stars for reasons not attributable to the band. 1 - The venue, whose audio wasn't always impeccable... at times it was difficult to hear certain passages, and (thanks to Pete's voice) even the singing was at times a guess. 2 - The fucking people who came to watch the concert, I'm obviously not talking about everyone, but about those who enjoyed stealing phones and wallets from a lot of people. I saw about twenty guys in line to report the theft. Well, to these scumbags, I wish them to go fuck themselves because, besides being people who obviously won’t achieve shit in life except die starving on the streets (but they’re happy because it’s punk... aren't you, idiots??), they ruin a beautiful concert for so many people. Anyway... aside from the rant... it was a great concert, a testament that Babyshambles is a great band, and now we all eagerly await the EP and the album, which we hope arrives soon.

FUCK FOREVER FUCKERSSS!!!

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