I imagine that back in the heady days of 2006 buying a ticket to a Babyshambles gig was more a bet on whether Pete Doherty would turn up than a simple cash-for-ticket transaction.  In that year things got so bad the band had to cancel the end of their UK tour to assist Pete’s rehabilitation. Little more than a year later, the situation has transformed. Reflecting the more coherent sound of “Shotter’s Nation”, Babyshambles are now a tight, almost disciplined live act giving their fans exactly what they want. Tonight’s gig in Brixton academy proved this. The venue worked, spacious yet retaining a degree of intimacy. The crowd was excited but not overly rowdy (except a certain plonker wearing the full Libertines regalia - check out the cover of the greatest hits album - he was wearing that whole get-up!) . As part of the NME Awards Show tonight the main act was proceeded by a distinctly indistinct indie-pub-rock band, The Courteeneers, and a poor but amiable group, The Beggars.

First up were The Beggars who did little but pass the time; the whole crowd seemed to agree that they weren’t great, although some complaints were worded a little more harshly than this. To be fair to The Courteeneers they do have a few catchy tunes and an occasional spark of imagination. However this spark is quickly stamped on, doused with a fire extinguisher and forgotten due to the fact that they are telling exactly the same stories  as every other two-bit indie band around at the moment (about clubs, pubs and luuurve) and using riffs and beats that have been heard a thousand times before to tell them. So, the support bands clearly lacked the poetic touch of say, Babyshambles. Arriving on stage around half nine there was little in the way of opening banter. Instead the band launched straight into a set crammed full of crowd pleasing anthems. “Delivery“, the rock-pop highlight of the latest album, arrives early and is done full justice. “You Talk” is equally bouncy. However, it’s the less jaunty songs from Shotter’s Nation that show Doherty is an artist of substance, not just a tabloid plaything. The guitars delicately chimed on “Unstookietitled” and “Unbilotitled” fires a clear shot at the people around Doherty he perceives as fakes and users : ‘You say that you love me/ Why don't you f**k off?/ You think that you own me/ You're ripping me off.’ Here the poetic element of his work shines through, nowhere more than on Baddie’s Boogie : 'It’s a lousy life for the washed-up wife/ And the permanently plastered p****d-up b*****d'. The crowd revelled in bellowing out this tongue-twisting belter of a line.

Although the band as a whole were excellent, all eyes were predictably on Doherty. Seeing him live is strangely like visiting an ill relative. You find yourself saying peculiar things like “Oh there’s much more colour in his cheeks than the last time I saw him” and “It was a bit touch-and-go for a while there but I think he’ll pull through.” Tonight he didn’t slur a single word, his vocal delivery swinging from crisp and sharp to raw and biting. The bands first album, Down In Albion, was fully incorporated into the set as well. “Pipedown” crunched brutally and “Back From The Dead” skipped playfully. As the show neared its end the band left the stage for ten minutes, but returned with the big guns from the first album. Their most straightforward pop hit to date, “Killamangiro”, whipped the crowd up into a frenzy only intensified by “Albion” and “F**k Forever”. The two final tracks complemented each other perfectly. “Albion” the anthemic winding ballad and “F**k Forever” the near-perfect nihilistic punk rant. The final song got the entire crowd flailing about widely and screaming out the chorus.

This gig confirmed Babyshambles, in my mind at least, as one of the best bands in Britain today. Some argue that Babyshambles have lost their true spirit, that of a band in complete chaos who occasionally pull something great out of the hat.  However, from this performance, an organised Babyshambles are the true force to be reckoned with. As for Pete Doherty, a few years ago it seemed as if he would implode and follow the sorry path of decay travelled by countless rock stars before him. However it now seems just as likely that Doherty will have a long and productive career and in many years time may even be relaxing in the rock star retirement home now frequented by Jagger and Richards, chatting to Carl Barat about the glory days.