The Libertines: 'Reading shows verging on pandemonium'

Drummer Gary Powell discusses festival shows and the future

Daniel Fahey - 28 August 2010

The drummer made it out to be a waiting game for fans as he wasn’t eager to divulge any firm plans.

“Everybody should just set sail on the good ship Albion and see where we end up,” he told us.

Discussing their set at Leeds Festival last night, the sticksman said: “Leeds was actually really, really good fun, both times.  Obviously I played earlier with my new band, The Invasion Of, and then I played later with The Libertines and it was really, really good fun.”

He also added: “We always knew that we’d get back together under some guise but happening as it has happened, noooo. We never thought it was going to happen like this, this is verging on pandemonium. I couldn’t have even pre-visioned this. “

The band were made to halt their set at Leeds Festival last night (Friday) with fears of crushing in the crowd. As Powell explained: “There was a massive crowd surge, we could actually see people being lifted off their feet and being pushed to the front of the audience. It was a little bit mental, so be had to stop the gig and try to clam it down just a little bit for everybody’s safety.”

On tonight’s show, he didn’t reveal much expect the setlist has been pre-planned and he hoped to get through the gig in one piece.

“The setlist is already sorted out,” he told Virtual Festivals, “We’ve got an hour but we don’t want to go over the hour because Reading and Leeds, in their divine wisdom, have come up with a system, which – if you go over go over your allotted  time – they charge you five grand a minute. That ain’t come out of my pocket!”

Watch the video in the top right of this article for the full interview.  

The band play the main stage at Reading Festival 2010 at 8.20pm.

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