THE last time they were down this way The Libertines drew a capacity crowd to the BIC just up the road so tonight was always going to sell out quickly and it did just that. The O2 Bournemouth was absolutely rammed on Tuesday night with many turning up early to catch the three support acts. Unfortunately, two of those acts didn’t turn up so after a short notice change to the running order Shop Girls put in a longer stint as the sole support. The Cardiff based three-piece delivered a solid set of well-crafted songs that suited the mood of the crowd and built the atmosphere nicely for the main event.

And what a main event it was. Carl, Pete, John and Gary strolled onto the stage and immediately launched into Heart of the Matter, Horror Show and Barbarians. The set started at breakneck speed and continued in similar vein throughout the 90-minute set.

The combined writing power of Doherty and Barât has produced some absolute classic songs, most of which got an airing tonight. Can’t Stand Me Now, Up The Bracket, Boys In The Band and What Became of the Likely Lads all had the crowd singing along to every word creating one of the best atmospheres at the venue I have seen in my 15 years of going to gigs there.

The four-song encore included crowd favourites What Katie Did and Don’t Look Back Into The Sun keeping the energy levels at maximum until the very last note.