To say that The Libertines reunion show last weekend, their first in four years, was highly anticipated would be an understatement, but to call it London’s most dangerous gig in recent years would also seem appropriate given the nasty reports that have surfaced since.

The UK rock revivalists – Carl Barât, Pete Doherty, John Hassall, and Gary Powell – buried the hatchet in grand fashion over the weekend, performing to a crowd of over 60,000 at London’s Hyde Park on Saturday 5th July as part of the British Summer Time concert series, (the same festival that some fans scored dirt cheap tickets to due to a ticketing glitch).

However, the concert was characterised by concerns over fan safety as much as it was for re-igniting the spirit of The Libertines’ shambolic garage rock. Organisers have confirmed that nearly 40 patrons were injured during the 24-song set, eight people were hospitalised and several attendees set off flares during the Hyde Park show, as NME reports.

“As a result of crowd pushing at the start of The Libertines’ set, 38 people were taken to the medical centre to be assessed and/or to receive treatment,” said Event Director Jim King, of promoters AEG Live, in a statement. ” Of that number, eight were taken to hospital for minor injuries.”

(Photo: Steve Cook Source: Facebook)

The band’s set was interrupted multiple times to deal with the massive crowd surging forwards to security barriers. “We can’t carry on if you don’t calm down a bit,” Pete Doherty addressed the crowd after security attempted to halt the gig after opening song, ‘Vertigo’, the crowd crush bad enough to result in a 10 minute delay as medical staff dragged injured audience members from the crowd.

The Libertines second number, ‘Boys In The Band’ was also interrupted as flares and fireworks erupted in the audience. King confirmed that fans attempting to bring flares into the show had them confiscated by security and refused entry, but that some punters “still managed to smuggle some in … we then ejected two people who let them off on the night.”

(Photo: Steve Cook Source: Facebook)
Later on in the show, the gig was stopped again after ‘Time For Heroes’ to deal with more crowd problems while the band got through a single verse of ‘France’ before having to deal with rowdy fans who’d climbed the speaker towers, according to Gigwise. 

“If you don’t stop climbing the towers, Pigman [Doherty] can’t do his solo,” Barât told the masses, as the giant screen behind the band lit up with the message: ‘Please get down from the delay tower.’

Prior to taking to the Hyde Park stage, The Libertines thrilled fans by announcing two more huge reunion shows on the big screen, to take place in September at London’s Alexandra Palace, as Pete Doherty tweeted. Meanwhile, co-frontman Barât tells NME that the band will work on material for a new album later this year.

View the band’s full British Summer Times setlist below.

The Libertines @ British Summer Time 2014 Setlist
(via Setlist.fm)

Vertigo
Boys in the Band (Stopped twice because of crowd surges, snippets of ‘Build Me Up Buttercup’/’Seven Nation Army’)
The Delaney
Campaign of Hate
Time for Heroes (Stopped because of crowd surges)
Horrorshow
Begging
The Ha Ha Wall
Music When the Lights Go Out
What Katie Did
The Boy Looked at Johnny
Can’t Stand Me Now
Last Post on the Bugle
Love on the Dole
The Saga
Death on the Stairs
Radio America
Don’t Look Back Into the Sun
Tell the King
Up the Bracket
What a Waster
France (First verse only. Stopped to ask people to get down from a sound delay tower)
Albion (Babyshambles cover) (Pete and Carl solo)
I Get Along

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