Peter Doherty, Frédéric Lo and Katia De Vidas perform two intimate gigs at Tonic.
Peter Doherty and Frédéric Lo played two intimate sold out shows, at our Tonic HQ in Southsea as part of a short tour to promote the album ‘The Fantasy Life Of Poetry and Crime’. They where joined by Katia Doherty-De Vidas on keys.
Over a £1,000 was raised on the day from raffle and merch sales. Pete and Frédéric will also making a donation from the the day’s ticket sales.
Steph Langan said: ‘We met Peter after Terry Hall invited us up to Coventry for a series of shows he put together for The City of Culture, and The Libertines were playing it as well. We met Pete’s manager, then they invited to join us on the tour and it’s just grown from there.’
‘They’ve been amazing, the whole team from the band to the management, the crew – they’ve been so accommodating to us and really supportive.’
‘Peter explained how he came to know Tonic: ‘It all started quite naturally – like some relationships do. I had heard that they were a mental health charity which was also involved in music, I wasn't really quite sure who they were at first.’
‘But it was Terry Hall – it was his recommendation which sealed the deal, he's been a hero to me since I was 15/16, I idolise the guy.’
‘He's talked openly about his mental health problems, and we all have our struggles – him and his family, and me and mine, and he seemed pretty certain that Tonic were just good people doing something good.’
‘We built up a bit of trust with them, and they came on tour with The Libertines, I think we've just been feeling each other out.’
‘Them coming here today has been amazing.’
The album launch tour only made three other stops – the prestigious The Cavern Club in Liverpool and The 100 Club in London, plus The Brook in Southampton.
Peter explains how the shows came about: ‘You can't say no,’ what they're doing here is so amazing and important.’
‘I’m quite a volatile person emotionally and psychologically as well, and I've always looked for quick and easy answers to these problems, but there aren't any, really.’
‘But some people seem to have a better understanding than others, and fortunately they're the people who are working here and giving their time to others with mental health problems and addictions, or anxiety.’
‘That's another great tonic for any problems – it's music, it is like a drug, it can be a sedative, it can be a stimulant. It can be both those things – sometimes in the same song.’
Peter wrote The Fantasy Life of Poetry and Crime with Frédéric in Normandy, where he now lives and commented, ‘Even as we were finishing these songs at the kitchen table in France, I remember thinking, this is such a relaxed way to work. He doesn't really know anything about Libertines or (Pete’s other band) Babyshambles, it wasn't his thing – he's learning about all that now. I like to think we've set the bar quite high for future projects – we've written some good songs together.’
Peter, Frédéric and Katia, we love you and can not thank you enough.
Big love also to Dom and Mayfield Records who kindly sponsored the event by providing the sound, and to Chris Broom for The News (Portsmouth) for allowing us to use his interview quotes, you can read Chris's full article on the link below.
