Went to see said band last night in Manchester, and found myself excited, yes - excited - by what I saw and heard. I'd been slightly disappointed by the last couple of major gigs I'd gone to; despite performances being top-class and everything, they just lacked that special something that means so very much to the gig-going community.

I'd certainly felt like this about the Polyphonic Spree last year (there was a buzz if ever I saw one), but jeez - these boys were on fire. Missed the support act, whoever they were - some NME-sponsored half-arsed garage-rock claptrap I assume; I didn't lose any sleep. The Libertines were much more than this though: an hour and a quarter of pure velocity, steaming through most of the album and new stuff, not forgetting to provide a snapshot of what looks like a newly-strengthened bond between joint-frontmen Pete Doherty and Carl Barat.

Was slightly surprised/alarmed/disgusted by the amount of hippy throwbacks in the crowd, given the nature of the band's music - but who cares about those poor, deluded fools? Put short I haven't had so much fun in a long time, and all thanks to my NME-devotee friend Dave, who booked me a ticket on the grounds that I wouldn't object when I heard their album was produced by Mick Jones.

Cheers Dave, you did me proud.