Pete Welsh - Kids in the Riot: High and Low with The Libertines

Possibly the best barometer of where Pete and Carls individual and collective fortunes lay came with the simultaneous release of Babyshambles Killamangiro and The Libertines What Became Of The Likely Lads in November 2004. Petes anti-hero public image seemed to have helped relegate his former band to playing second fiddle to Babyshambles new, more angular and exciting sound. That Killamangiro was a fresh and fantastic single was indisputable, and it received blanket coverage on xfm and MTV2, but Likely Lads seemed to sink without trace. With little or no promotion it performed poorly in the charts and was a sad afterthought to The Libertines story. It was a story in which the music had become a mere sideshow to Petes increasingly erratic antics, and the next six months would see his profile and notoriety go through the roof.

Despite an encouraging tour of the States, including a big splashdown in Hollywood where the stars came out to see them, in early November Carl announced that The Libertines would be splitting at the end of the year. The inevitable could not be delayed any longer, though typically magnanimously Carl paid tribute to his erstwhile partner and expressed his hope for a reconciliation some time soon. That looked increasingly doubtful given Petes behaviour with Babyshambles, which saw him wreck a valuable piece of modern artwork during a riotous set at the Groucho Club in Soho of all places. The tabloids had a field day. One of many that would follow.

Far from resting on his laurels, Carl busied himself lending guest vocals to Clients Pornography single, an electro-pop tune which was quite a departure from his usual fare, and showcased his well-heeled English vocal styling. NME also reported on a new supergroup hed light-heartedly put together with Tim Burgess, Duffy from Primal Scream, and the drummer out of Razorlight, for a one-off gig at the TapnTin, the Chatham venue that had hosted The Libertines reunion gig after Petes jail sentence.

If Carl was dutifully getting on with things, the same could definitely not be said of Pete, who would embark on one of his maddest weeks ever, even by his (high) standards. With a fortnight to go to Christmas, a scheduled appearance on Top Of The Pops ended, perhaps predictably, in total chaos. Pete leapt from the stage during a performance of Killamangiro and set about an audience member for reasons unbeknown to anyone, a mass brawl ensued and the BBC had to broadcast a rehearsal take. Worse was to follow on Babyshambles biggest tour to date, taking in sizeable venues in Blackpool, London, Belfast, Dublin and Glasgow. In Blackpool Pete was reported to have gone mad, being barely able to stand let alone perform on stage. Understandably, though, for the first time the paying public werent having it, booing and throwing bottles, various members stormed off stage, and an incoherent, confused Pete was forcibly pulled off. His reaction was to perilously climb the speakers and launch himself into the heaving mass of fans, who ripped his top off in a frenzy.

The circus returned to town for an eagerly anticipated show at Londons Astoria. I sat in the bands dressing room, tucking into the rider awaiting Petes arrival. When, at 2.15 in the morning he hadnt shown and it was announced to 2,000 restless and frustrated fans that the show was off, a full-scale riot broke out, with the stage trashed and equipment stolen or destroyed. I stayed upstairs but the racket was quite something, with police vans on the scene pretty sharpish. Within hours a guitar pedal pilfered from the stage appeared on eBay! Rumour had it that Pete had arrived at the venue, alone in a taxi, then promptly scarpered down Tottenham Court Road, though why no one knows.

The day before the Astoria no-show, Carl had officially wrapped up Libertines business at the 287 Club in Paris, supporting PJ Harvey. In stark contrast to the attention afforded to Petes shenanigans, his former bands demise went largely unreported. There was no let-up in the media clamour for Pete Doherty though, with a 20-minute grilling from Kirsty Wark on BBC2s worthy Newsnight show, a setting usually reserved for politicians and the like. After a Christmas spent with his parents, Pete embarked on an ambitious four-gigs-in-a-night tour for New Years Eve, taking in Birmingham, Stoke, Oldham and Manchester. Considering he couldnt get it together to do a show in his own backyard, this seemed an unlikely prospect, though amazingly he pulled it off, the first show commencing at 8 p.m. and the last at 3.15 a.m. in the New Year. The scenes of mass adoration prompted NME to declare it Peatlemania!

Things seemed to go from bad to worse for Carl though. Hed hinted at some kind of health problem towards the end of The Libertines and in early January revealed he would be having a tumour removed from behind his ear. I know that in private he was pretty scared and who can blame him, but in public he manfully kept his chin up, telling NME that he was optimistic for the future, having had some sense of closure on the Libs, and how he admired and rated John Hassalls efforts with his new band Yeti. Johns Beatles-influenced outfit would chart in March with debut release Dont Ever Lose Your Sense Of Wonder and garner much praise from Noel Gallagher amongst others.

Nothing runs smoothly in Petes world, though, with his drummer Gemma Clarke quitting Babyshambles in late January, citing her problems with the bands management as the reason for her leaving. A new fella called Adam Ficek was drafted in at short notice, and made his debut at a tsunami benefit at the Garage organised by Danny Goffey and Rhys Ifans, the hellraising Welsh actor. Putting Pete and Rhys together is like mixing Stella with Strongbow, as I know from vast personal experience of both. They hit it off straight away, and Pete delivered a blistering set. The event was a media circus, with paparazzi everywhere. They certainly got the result they wanted, as the following days tabloids were full of it, with a photo of a sweat-drenched Pete with his eyes rolled back, showing only the whites, looking properly zombied-up and hurling himself into the crowd. Night of the Living Dead screamed one, and the general tone seemed to question whether this junkie rocker was a suitable role model for the nations youth. Whatever, this was nothing compared to the madness that was to unfold in the coming week, which must rank as the most extreme in the life and times of Pete Doherty.

A burgeoning relationship with model Kate Moss nobody really knew if it was credible or not ensured Pete was front-page tabloid news more or less every other day for a week or two. Pete, who had chastised Carl previously for hanging out with the faces in Primrose Hill, had evidently launched himself into that very world with his dalliance with Kate. I wasnt at all surprised she had fallen for him though, hes a very charming fella, but she must have insisted that he wash his hands which are infamously dirtier than a miners. Pete was gleefully telling the world of their true love in his most candid interview ever in the