Peter Capaldi and his Adidas-clad band live at the 100 Club, London, 9 March 2026, with support from the brilliant Zoe Graham.

Doctors past (and present if Billie Piper is indeed the incumbent Time Lord) have a long history of dalliance with popular – sometimes unpopular – music.

Moving on from Billie’s music career in the late ’90s/early 2000s (‘Because we want to’), there’s also The McGanns. Alongside Eighth Doctor, Paul, this four-piece pop/soul band from Liverpool featured his famous brothers, Joe, Mark, and the other one (Ringo?).

We all know Peter Davison penned the theme tune to Button Moon, but he also wrote a song (Officer McKirk) for Dave Clark (of Dave Clark Five fame) for Dave’s 1972 comeback album, Dave Clark and Friends. In his AllMusic review of the album, Richie Unterberger describes Davison’s ditty as ‘a little reminiscent of Mungo Jerry’. Faint praise indeed.

And who could forget Jon Pertwee’s seminal album of comedy seafaring songs, Songs For Vulgar Boatmen. Not anyone unfortunate enough to have listened to it, sadly….

But Peter Capaldi’s musical pedigree is on a different level. When he was an art student in Glasgow, Capaldi was the lead singer and guitarist in a punk rock band called The Dreamboys, whose drummer was future comedian Craig Ferguson. At the same time, Capaldi and Ferguson performed a cabaret act together as ‘Bing & Dean Hitler’, with Capaldi performing as Bing Hitler. Ferguson later adopted that moniker for his early comedy stand-up alter-ego. I suspect Capaldi doesn’t put ‘Bing Hitler’ on his CV any more.

From his time as a student until the early 1980s, Capaldi juggled two careers, one as an actor and the other as a singer and guitarist. All that changed when he was cast as Danny Oldsen in the hugely successful film, Local Hero in 1983. His charismatic performance led to more and more acting roles (including something called Dr Who?), and Capaldi was no longer able to give his musical ambitions his full attention.

All that changed when Capaldi released his debut album (aged 63), St Christopher in 2021. It was well-received, and the quality of the songwriting proved this was far from a vanity project. He followed it up with a further release, Sweet Illusions, last year, which was garnered even more praise than the first.

He’d already performed a few showcase gigs to launch the albums, but demand to see him perform live led to him booking a short tour this year, with stops in Newcastle, Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds, Nottingham, Cardiff, Brighton, and finally, London. “Recording, with all the advantages of the digital age is one thing,” Capaldi said when he announced the dates, “playing live is another, but I wanted to see if I could go out after all of these years and play live in front of an audience.” Well, I was about to find out…

The first night at the prestigious 100 Club in Oxford Street quickly sold out, but I was lucky to secure two tickets to the added final night of the tour. Disaster struck when I was asked to go on an overseas trip for work during the concert date. But, all praise to Logar, that got cancelled and I was able to go!

With only a 350 capacity, the 100 Club is an intimate and very cool venue. The club is famous for hosting pivotal moments in music history, including 1960s blues/mod, the 1976 punk explosion, and 1990s Britpop. Iconic performances include the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Who, Oasis, The Rolling Stones, and Metallica. So no pressure, Peter.

To get a good view at this standing venue, the audience arrived early and snaked through Oxford Street. It was a, maybe surprisingly, young crowd. I’d say it was mostly people (more men than women) in their 20s or 30s. Which makes sense, as I suspect his fanbase is largely made up of Whovians who were teens during his tenure as the Time Lord. Reports from other performances on the tour told of fans wielding sonic screwdrivers (I hope they got the right model) like lighters during the songs. But the London crowd were too cool for that; not a screwdriver in sight…

The crowd was a friendly bunch. Most, I assume, were just a bit stunned that they were about to see a real live Doctor perform a concert. That didn’t stop them enthusing over the (relatively unknown) support act, Zoe Graham. Her between-song banter and ’80s-tinged indie pop went down a storm. Particularly memorable was a song (Evilin), a homage to the late TV cook, the ever passive-aggressive and terrifying Fanny Cradock. It’s clear Zoe had a great time on the tour; hopefully, every crowd was as welcoming to the support act as they were that night. I’m presuming Capaldi cherry-picked Zoe himself, which shows he not only has great taste but also wants to support upcoming artists. Good man.

After a short break, the main band (Andrew Cowan, guitar, Charlotte Peters, bass, Craig-y, keys and Chris Dickie, drums) took to the stage, all uniformed in shiny black Adidas tracksuits and white trainers. Ever the showman, Capaldi took to the stage a little while later to (unsurprisingly) thunderous applause before he’d even played or sung a note.

Capaldi, the singer and guitarist, is a dynamic performer, racing across the stage, posing and pointing. At one stage, donning (not sonic) sunglasses, ironically noting that he was indoors at a dark venue. But he owned those shades. His between-song banter was hilarious, self-deprecating, and occasionally poignant, particularly one of his best songs, Bin Night, about caring for his grandson.

Songs were predominantly taken from his second album, alongside a spattering from the first. The music was varied, but best described as noirish post-punk, with shades of Berlin Trilogy/Scary Monsters Bowie, The Psychedelic Furs, and Iggy Pop. His confessional and intricate lyrics often probe the mundanities of modern life. These are not songs about being a TV and movie star, but about his student days in Glasgow, family life, and fears. Stand-out tracks included the raucous opener, Is It Today, the aforementioned Bin Night, and Beautiful And Weird; sample lyrics:

It’s the flicker of the street lamp that’s running out of time

It’s the clicking of the rails on the forgotten railway line

It’s the echo of the sirens around the tenements and lots

It’s the prayer of the mother whispering at her cot

Before performing Not Going Anywhere, he told the crowd that it was originally intended to be a happy song, but it ended up being ‘miserable’, joking that this was a perfect reflection of his music career. But his performance was enthrallingly upbeat throughout, and the band were a tight unit, often augmented by Capaldi on blistering lead guitar. It’s hard to believe these are their very first live dates.

At one point Capaldi joked that this may be his farewell tour, as he’s “67 with a heart condition”. But then noted this is the last night and he’d survived life on the road. So maybe we can expect some more dates? Please? I’d recommend you get a ticket if they do tour again. Capaldi clearly knew he was in a hall of mostly Whovians, but only made a nod to his tenure as a Time Lord, noting that he can “travel in time”. And, guess what, he can! Taking us back in history to his proto-punk roots in 1970s Glasgow for one more (hopefully not last) hurrah.

Setlist:

• Is It Today
• Sweet Illusions
• It’s Not Over Until It’s Over
• Bin Night
• Beautiful and Weird
• Something to Behold
• A Little Bit of Class
• Not Going Anywhere
• The Great Magnificence
• In Person
• Hollywood or Bust
• Through the Cracks
• All the Young Dudes/Don’t Look Back in Anger (David Bowie/Oasis cover)

Encore:

• Friday I’m in Love (The Cure cover)
• No One in the World