Babyshambles have announced a huge one-off UK headline show for 2026. Find all the details below.
The London band reunited in 2025 for their first gigs together in 11 years, the first of which took place at the White Rock Studios in Hastings in November. This coincided with Pete Doherty and co. releasing ‘Dandy Hooligan’ – their first single in 12 years.
This year, Babyshambles are scheduled to keep the reunion going with stops at some European festivals, as well as a trio of Irish gigs in Cork, Dublin and Belfast. They’ll also make an appearance at Rock N Roll Circus 2026 in Sheffield.
Today (Friday April 24), the group have shared details of their only UK headline date for this year. They’ll take to the stage at Dreamland in Margate, Kent, on Sunday August 30, on Bank Holiday Weekend.
The massive seaside concert will also feature support slots from Big Special, Warmduscher, rising Birmingham outfit Gans, and electronic punk group Pregoblin – the latter of whom have previously collaborated with Doherty.
“We are only doing one show in our beautiful and pleasant Albion this year, and where better than Margate?” Doherty said in a statement.
“A beano is guaranteed for all. Kiss me quick – sun, sea, sand on a Bank Holiday Weekend …does it get any better?…no. ”
Tickets go on general sale at 10am BST next Friday (May 1) – you’ll be able to buy yours here. Alternatively, fans can access an artist pre-sale at the same time on Tuesday (April 28), or a venue pre-sale on Wednesday (29). Sign up here.
Last summer saw Doherty play a show with The Libertines as part of the Dreamland Margate series. This year’s edition will also host the likes of The Streets, Paul Weller, Garbage and The Kooks.
Elsewhere on their 2025 comeback tour, Babyshambles paid tribute to the “fragile” and “beautifully volatile” Patrick Walden as they returned to London for a big show at the O2 Academy Brixton.
They then played another date in the capital in December, at Camden Town’s KOKO. Here, they brought Carl Barât on stage for The Libertines’ ‘What Katie Did’ and played ‘Wolfman’ for the first time in 20 years. This marked Babyshambles’ most recent show, per Setlist.FM.
The band are yet to release any more music following last year’s ‘Dandy Hooligan’. Speaking to NME last autumn about the prospect of new material, Doherty explained: “When we do the bigger shows, it’d be nice to release a single and a couple of B-sides.
“I’ve got a couple of ideas and when we get in a room, we’ll try them out.”
He also told NME that the reunion only became possible once he and guitarist Mick Whitnall had both been clean for a number of years. He revealed that original guitarist Walden – who passed away last June – was meant to be involved in the comeback, too.
Doherty said Walden’s death was “a real trigger to get it done”. “My first thought was of just seeing his face up there while we’re playing and that’ll be an important part of it,” he added.
“There was always talk about it; there was always a desire to play those songs again,” Doherty told NME, “but the centrifugal point of it was addiction really, and the danger that me and Mick would be an unhealthy influence on each other. So it was people around us not wanting to meet up and probably us both knowing that it wasn’t a good idea.”
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