Grey suit, pacing back and forth, a 2006 Brit-pop classic reimagined in full indie drawl — that's the scene of Pete Doherty's impromptu moment in some room in South Korea. Whether it was backstage or a random café, the footage doesn't quite give it away.
The clip was shared by The Libertines bassist Carl Barât on Instagram on the evening of Sunday, October 5th, right after the band touched down in South Korea ahead of their headline set at the Busan International Rock Festival. In the footage, Doherty sings Lily Allen's classic track "Smile," while drummer Gary Powell sits behind the kit, drumming along with a grin, as onlookers clap and throw their hands up around them.
Barât captioned the post: "South Korea going well, is that @lilyallen? ❤️" — and Lily Allen herself replied in the comments with a heart-eyes emoji.
The following night, on the evening of October 4th, The Libertines officially took the stage at the Busan International Rock Festival. Just before that, Barât had joined the band The Molotovs on stage in London for a performance of The Libertines' "What A Waster."
Around the same time, Doherty sat down with Josh Pugh for an NME interview about their new show together, "The Pete Doherty Show," which has featured guests including Sleaford Mods' Jason Williamson, EastEnders actress Natalie Cassidy, Richard Bacon, and comedians Ivo Graham and Jamali Maddix. Reflecting on the interviews so far, Doherty said: "The one with Jason Williamson was great — there were some questions I'd been wanting to ask him for ages. The Natalie Cassidy one was brilliant too, because she's a proper heavyweight celebrity, and I kind of expected her to be this down-to-earth London girl — and she really was."
