Pete Doherty has said that reuniting The Libertines solely for the money is “in the spirit” of the band.
The Libertines will perform at the British Summer Time festival in London’s Hyde Park and, speaking to NME, Doherty stated that he didn’t understand the criticism being leveled at him regarding the band’s reformation being due to financial purposes.
“What do they [the critics] think The Libertines did? We signed to Rough Trade, right? Purely for the money”, The Libertines’ frontman and songwriter said. “It’s completely in the spirit of the band to play Hyde Park for the money! What the fuck are they talking about?! It’s a fucking horrorshow, it just happens to be amazing rock ‘n’ roll music.”
Doherty revealed that he and co-frontman Carl Barat will each earn £500,000 from the performance, saying: “It’s filthy. Last time [Reading and Leeds Festival 2010] was supposed to be £240k each after tax for me and Carl. But by the time they paid for all the buses and shit there was just a tax bill. This time I think we’re getting half a million each, me and Biggles.”
Doherty also revealed that the band will play a warm-up gig before the festival, saying that they might even play a gig for free for those who can’t get tickets to the Hyde Park show.
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