Peter Doherty at Birmingham Academy last night. Pictures by James Watkins.

Peter Doherty
O2 Academy,  Birmingham
By James Watkins

The nation’s bad boy of rock’n'roll – who saw the inside of police cells on his visit to Shropshire – returned in triumph to the Midlands last night for a solo gig.

Just as Jordan tried to distance herself from her early, irreverent years by asking people to call her Katie Price, so Doherty has adopted a name change.

Peter, formerly plain old Pete, had a few more surprises up along with a few surprises, namely Blur guitarist Graham Coxon.

Coxon has worked closely on Doherty’s new solo album, Grace/Wastelands and from his arrival early on into the set, he added a certain je ne sais quoi.

Doherty, the former Libertine and Babyshambler, worked through a selection of tracks from the album, including Last of the English Roses and Salome.

He excelled himself when playing some of his back catalogue, including an acoustic version of Cant Stand Me Now amidst a sea of crowd surfers and thrown lager.

The second half of the show saw Doherty paired with a string orchestra and a rare appearance by estranged La’s frontman, Lee Mavers during Sweet By and By.

Naturally, Doherty’s show was not perfect, but it suggested he’s back on track despite all the negativity surrounding his past few years.

It seems Peter has picked himself up, with the help of some new friends in Blur’s Graham Coxon and acclaimed record producer Stephen Street.

Gone are the audience heckling, stage bust-ups, no-shows and supermodels, being replaced by a more clean-cut act that really could recapture our imagination of how it should have been right from the start.