The Libertines venue: Henry Fonda Theater, Los Angeles date: 2004-10-02 The two front men from the Libertines stand onstage tonight in front of devoted fans that adore them. But although Pete Doherty will croon What Katie Did from the Libertines eponymous second album, he’ll be doing it with his new band Babyshambles at The Venue in Edinburgh, and not alongside his Libertines counterpart . Five thousand miles away and across the Atlantic, Carl Barat and the rest of the Libertines, continue on their 16 date North American tour at Los Angeles’ Henry Fonda Theatre. The Libertines return to Los Angeles just a month after a sold out show at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. Fans that missed them at the tiny 450 capacity venue will get a chance to catch them this evening. Along with 1250 others, they will see a band that is currently mired in British music magazines for Pete and Carl’s soap opera-ish relationship that seems to fringe on the edges of implosion. They’ve eagerly come to see a band that, for the past year, has laced the pages of various magazines such as NME, due to one of its frontman’s constant bouts and struggles with drug addiction and rehab attempts, as well as his court case updates on charges of theft and weapon possession. A recent issue of NME even had two separate covers, one of Pete and one of Carl, and two several page layouts to separate interviews with each and then a few more pages to fans’ testimonials on how this group had changed their lives. The boys may not be on the cover of every music magazine Stateside, but their charm and music has definitely translated well here. Their second album flew off the shelves the first week and record shops had to quickly put in second orders to fulfill demand. The hysteria that circles around the group back in their homeland is in part due to their accessibility to their fans. They have created their own music scene at home. Pete even holds gigs in his flat on a regular basis. But Los Angeles fans have never seen a true Libertines show with the full group together, apart from an appearance at the Coachella Festival. Instances when the full original lineup were to play in Los Angeles have never materialized, blame it on Visa reasons, drug addictions, or whatever. Tonight really isn’t any different from prior Libertine shows then. You would think that sans one of the most important members of the group present, the circumstances would lend to a less than packed house. But the opposite is quite true. The soap opera that is the Libertines has only made the semi homoerotic relationship between Carl and Pete more endearing. After all, love is never easy and Carl’s insistence that Pete get better before being invited back, shows his deepest concerns for his best friend. We empathize with the band and we want to see Carl and Pete back together, best mates, side by side once again. So we come here tonight not only for the great music they’ve created together, but also in support of a band that we hope will one day be one again. As the sound of The Walkmen on the house speakers starts to fade and the curtains rise, the restless crowd begin cheering. Fog fills the stage and Carl, John Hassall, Gary Powell, and Pete fill-in Anthony Rossomando eventually stroll out. Behind them hangs a huge Libertines tarp with the image off their first album cover. It’s probably more fitting that the photo off their second album cover isn’t hanging there instead, as it’d only serve to remind fans more of Pete’s absence. Dressed in a brown shirt, black leather jacket, blue tailored jeans and black boots, Carl looks very much the cool and confident front man for the evening. As the night progresses, he’ll eventually skin down to just his denim and boots. They start the evening with The Delaney, a b-side from single Up the Bracket. Then dive into a single from the first album, Don’t Look Back into the Sun. Carl, with an intensity all his own, sings all of his and Pete’s vocals while John and Anthony provide backup. Filling in for Pete on guitar might be a huge task for Anthony to live up to, but he does it well and is actually the liveliest person on stage tonight. He strokes his guitar strings with such frenzy, moving constantly between the right side of the stage and Gary’s drum kit like a Fourth of July firecracker, spins, twirls, jumps, and even breaks a string during Plan A. Gary, with his shirt tossed aside since the beginning of their set, shows quite a bit of energy as well, occasionally standing as he beats away with fury. The boys take some breaks between songs for a few swags of whiskey and quite a bit of chain smoking and look like a rock band here to play music with no cares as to what anyone thinks of their turbulent last year. It takes a while for the crowd to warm up to them, but halfway through the set, head bobbing has turned into dancing, dancing into shoving, and shoving into hysteria. During Narcissist a fan jumps on stage twice before being taken down by security and Carl entices the crowd further by opening up a bottle of wine and letting the liquids fly into those in the front rows. By the last song, I Get Along, the crowd, with the thrust of their fists, shout “fuck ‘em” so loud the people outside the venue can probably hear. While Carl and Anthony may not possess the same chemistry and charm between them that Carl and Pete share, the show is still definitely just as, if not more, entertaining, lively, and enticing as any other show passing through LA this year. Yet none can deny that there were definite moments where Pete’s presence and co-vocals was sorely missed. The most obvious moment being when the Libertines smashed through Can’t Stand Me Now, a brilliant song which puts their relationship in context. It would have made the night to hear Pete declare "You can't stand me now," and Carl respond with "I know you lie, I know you lie, but I'm still in love with you.. I'll take you anywhere you want to go." Unfortunately we don’t get to witness that. Instead, over the course of the evening, we hear two-thirds of their first album and its b-sides, a total of 22 songs altogether. They play just seven songs off their new album, including their newest single, What Became of the Likely Lads, which ends with a slight grin from Carl at the forefront of the stage. By this point, arms are wailing over heads and the energy within the crowd has gone from wild to just crazy. Although the house was packed, The Libertines had something to prove tonight to those that stayed home, waiting for the day they can witness Carl and Pete walk onto the same stage together. Pete may have missed the show tonight, but those that stayed home missed a great show as well. P.S. Get better Pete. /Audree