Badly Drawn Boy slams 'Car Crash Pete' at Get Loaded

United Kingdom | | 28 August 2006

Whilst the world's eyes were on headliners Babyshambles at the third Get Loaded in the Park Festival - on London's Clapham Common - one man was on a mission to challenge their 'glory'...

As Pete Doherty stumbled onto the main stage shouting: "Big up to The Priory and the Metropolitan Police", he was addressing two distinct tribes within the crowd. Camp A, composed mainly of similarly gaunt, pasty types bearing t-shirt slogans such as "Pete is Innocent", had come to cheer on their hero. Camp B (the majority) were there to observe a sideshow that they had read much about in the papers. Respectively, each group was hoping for a triumph or a sensation tonight...

Meanwhile, tucked away in the Second Stage Tent, a third camp had manifested, consisting of those who found everything that Camps A and B represented to be utterly deplorable. It made for a highly charged atmosphere. Leading the Camp C charge was self-appointed people's champion Badly Drawn Boy, aka Damon Gough.

"Before you all f**k off to watch Babyshambles, I'll have you know that I have my own addiction problems too", he proclaimed on entering the stage, "I'm completely addicted to chicken and mushroom Pot Noodles" [This is an actual fact, according to Wikipedia!]

Then, after opening with forthcoming single 'Nothing is Going to Change Your Mind', Gough sniped: "Pete Doherty couldn't write a song that good in a million years!"

As the set went on - and several people in the front rows jostled off towards the main stage - the singer/songwriter became increasingly vexed, hitting out at the Babyshambes frontman in between every song, referring to him several occasions as a "f**king car crash", much to the audience's delight. But Doherty wasn't the only person under fire...

"Where are all the f**king photographers?", he screamed at one point, "There's meant to be photographers in the pit here for the first three songs, and I like to kick their lenses into their faces, but there's none here and that's because they're all out there photographing a f**king heroin addict! Bunch of a***holes, it f**king pisses me off!"

Having vented his irritation, his references to Docherty - while becoming no less frequent - were more lighthearted. During the intro to 'Once Around The Block', Gough ad-libbed: "I went down to the garage to get some Rizla with Pete/ I offered him a taste of my Pot Noodle/ He said 'no thanks'/ He offered me a toke on his crack pipe..."

As for Babyshambes' headline set over on the main stage, despite the inclusion of Libertines classics 'Time For Heroes' and 'What Katie Did', it was neither triumphant nor sensational. In fact, it was disappointingly inconsequential - reminiscent of a particularly dull scoreless (no pun) football match. More of that in our review of the festival (Stay posted).

Highlights of the otherwise excellent festival included Lily Allen, The Young Knives, British Sea Power, The Buzzcocks, Kila Kela, The Cuban Brothers (with a spectacular dance-off), VF's Local Heroes unsigned winners Merla and Rob McCulloch (opening to a packed crowd on the Second Stage), plus Graham Coxon, who not only smiled on-stage for the first time ever, but fell into fits of giggles when some Spinal Tap-style fireworks went off unexpectedly after one song, and again when he was struck with a beer can, leaving a comedy wet patch on his upper thigh. Of course, he never missed a beat.

Stay posted for our full reviews and photo gallery from Get Loaded in the Park.