Called The Chavs, the band comprised Carl, Charlatans singer Tim Burgess, Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows and Primal Scream’s keyboard player Martin Duffy.
They rehearsed for 15 minutes in a cafe and then played a ramshackle set of just seven songs – The Charlatans’ North Country Boy and A Man Needs To Be Told; Tim Burgess solo effort I Believe In The Spirit; and The Libertines’ Death On The Stairs, Road To Ruin and France. The set closer was a cover of The Pogues’ Fairytale Of New York, ending with Carl and Tim hugging on the floor.
Views from down the front at the Tap ‘n’ Tin ranged from “hilarious” and “great fun” to “a proper Christmas shindig”.
Dean Fragile, who runs the Tap ‘n’ Tin record label, told us about The Chavs’ performance: “They did the chorus to Fairytale Of New York about five or six times. Considering they’d had hardly any practice, and probably far too many drinks, it was a really good gig and a really good way to end the year.”
It was Carl’s first venture outside of The Libertines, a band who’ve soared the heights and scaled the depths in little more than two years. The Libs now look likely to be consigned to rock history though. Co-frontman Pete Doherty has struggled with some well-publicised drug addiction problems, and his other band Babyshambles blasted into the top ten recently.