Strange one this. Wiltshire police have banned Babyshambles from headlining this year's Moonfest, which will take place on 29-31 Aug, as they believe the band's appearance would encourage violence at the event. Police presented a report to North Wiltshire Magistrates Court on Sunday, who then ordered the festival's organisers to cancel any and all appearances by the band.
Chief Superintendent Julian Kirby told the court (apparently with a straight face): "We carried out an analysis of what Pete Doherty and his band does. What he does as part of his routine is to gee up the crowd. They speed up and then slow down the music and create a whirlpool effect in the crowd. They all get geed up and then they start fighting".
The band's Adam Ficek told the NME: "The whole thing is a farce, it's almost comical. The organiser of the festival is now on the verge of bankruptcy. Why? Because we intentionally speed up and slow down the tempo of our songs. We're now in the process of trying to make it happen in a different venue. Watch this space".
Doherty's manager added that the ban was outrageous, and that the "different venue" mentioned by Ficek could be Doherty's house. He said: "We might even do it at Pete's house in a big barn. We're definitely going to honour those tickets somehow, but as far as the festival goes our hands are tied. Babyshambles have played about 25 festivals this year. They've been playing festivals all summer, what's the difference with this one?"