Pete Doherty in Wythenshawe review: a heart-warming display of unity

Striking up conversation with someone you’ve never met and you seemingly share nothing in common may be as good as extinct in some places but seemed commonplace at Cringlewood Club. Perhaps the fact that the small venue was filled with excited Pete Doherty fans helped the conversation flow, but it really did seem like a venue for making friends. The club’s owners and the locals who chatted with us confirmed this was the case. So for an intimate acoustic performance from Peter Doherty, no place could beat Cringlewood Club, particularly with its quintessential British charm.

Asking around, many gig attendees were from “just up the road” and were delighted that such a big name was performing at their club, with local and fan of Peter Lisa confirming she believed the festival is "100% good for the community". Barbara Miller, one of the club’s owners, confirmed some attendees had travelled from further afield for the Northenden Fringe Festival, with one fan saying "We'll go wherever they (The Libertines/Pete Doherty) go". 

Barbara said, “People kept asking us ‘Is it the real Pete Doherty? It’s a tribute, isn’t it?’ No, it’s not!” laughing. John Miller, her husband and co-owner of the club added, “It’s making Pete accessible to the people who could never afford it normally. It’s a close and personal thing and that’s what the people that are coming want.” It's understandable people thought it'd be a tribute act, tickets were only 20 quid. 

By now, the queue that had snaked around the venue was almost gone with fans now piled into the room, ready for the live music to begin. 

Photo: Cringlewood Social Club / Facebook.com 

Delhboy Kennedy kicked off the evening with some catchy rock 'n' roll before artists signed to Strap Originals, Peter’s new record label, took to the stage. Evan Williams, donned a “really good lyricist” by Peter, came through with gentle singer-songwriter indie. Vona Vella followed with euphoric indie featuring sunny choruses that were reminiscent of Sam Fender’s sound. 

The final support act was Jack Jones of Trampoline, a friend of Peter’s for some time, who performed his real-life poetry music to a buzzing room. Bringing personal songs performed energetically with plenty of crowd interaction, he was the perfect choice to get the crowd ready for the main event. 

Before Peter came on stage, music legend and host John Robb said a few words, inviting Cringlewood Club owners John and Barbara Miller up to give a brief speech where they expressed, “It's all for you, it’s all for the community”. Then, an impromptu appearance from Greater Manchester’s mayor, Andy Burnham, solidified the air of unity in the room while addressing the violence the country has witnessed over the past few weeks. Declaring “We love our music, we hate racism, we are Greater Manchester” the room erupted with support before Burnham welcomed Peter.

Andy Burnham, John Miller, and Barbara Miller on stage at Cringlewood Club 

Donning just an acoustic guitar, Peter kicked off his set with ‘Run Run Run’, a track from The Libertines’ newest number-one album All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade, to a receptive crowd who were instantly enamoured. Segueing the song's outro directly into ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’, the entire room sang along to the iconic track. When Peter moved onto The Libs’ debut single ‘What A Waster’, there wasn’t a single person not belting it at the top of their lungs. 

Shortly after, a voice from the crowd bellowed “Delivery!”, a track from Babyshambles’ (one of Peter’s bands) discography. Without missing a beat, Peter began to strum the intro. And this continued for the rest of the night - a fan in the crowd shouting a song name and Peter almost instantly launching into the requested tracks including ‘For Lovers’ and ‘Albion’, during which he changed the lyrics to give Wythenshawe and surrounding North-West areas a shout-out.

One huge highlight, as it would be for any fan of The Libs, was ‘What Katie Did’. With every single person in the room singing the “shoop de-lang-a-lang” so Peter could take lead vocal duties, it was, in a word, magical. We’re certain Peter could feel the warmth in the room too as he extended the track to keep that magic alive. ‘Music When The Lights Go Out’ was, of course, another highlight. In what world would that song ever go down poorly?

Jack Jones, a friend of his and one of the Strap Original support acts for the evening, joined Peter on stage to perform the indie classic ‘Time For Heroes’. Thanking the owners (while also thanking them for letting him smoke backstage) and telling the crowd to “get down Northenden Fringe Festival - it’s for the people by the people…. There’s nothing like a bit of live music”, Peter's performance had come to an end. Only it hadn’t as the two stayed to perform ‘Killamangiro’, ‘Fuck Forever’ (per fan request), and ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’ - during which he sang a snippet of Oasis’ ‘Whatever’ while the audience sang the lead guitar riff like their lives depended on it.

To close the night, Jack Jones threw some guitar plectrums into the crowd while Peter handed the setlist to the crowd member who’d asked for it, joking that it wasn’t even accurate due to the number of song requests he happily took. 

Once Jack, Peter, and Peter’s dog, Gladys, - who had been wandering the venue all evening - were off-stage, some fans set off home, some hung back to wait to try to get closer to their hero, and some stayed to drink the night away while enjoying a DJ set. 

Chatting to Barbara earlier in the evening, she’d said she wanted people to “come along to Cringlewood, it's a lovely club with wonderful people”, and after our experience, we can confirm she’s bang on. Add to that some amazing music from some of the best-loved names in music and it’d be silly not to jump at the chance to attend. Especially when a local told us they’d bought five drinks for less than 20 quid.

Check out our interview with Peter Doherty at the Cringelwood Club shortly before his performance. 

Cringlewood Club is due to welcome many more artists over the August bank holiday weekend as part of Northenden Fringe Festival. Acts including Tom Meighan (ex Kasabian), JJ ROX, Jon Dasilva, Jimi Goodwin (Doves), Andy Bennett (Ocean Colour Scene), and more will be performing. Secure your tickets to Northenden Fringe Festival for just £10 or £20!

Check out our What's On Guide to discover more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.