Music fans share most embarrassing memories in Indie Amnesty

Pete Doherty - the source of more online regret than probably any other object of fan worship

It's a hashtag which contains more hilarious confessions of embarrassment, disappointment and regret than a warehouse full of Smiths albums.

Thousands of indie band fans have been unburdening themselves on Twitter, sharing the darkest and most hilarious moments of their youth. Tales of musical obsession, hero worship, fleeting allegiances, pretentiousness and abject failure have all emerged under the banner of #indieamnesty.

Some of the stories recall a brief encounter with a musical idol, from the Nineties or Noughties, who turned out to have feet of clay; or an incident that was heartbreaking at the time but now can be mentally filed into the "What was I thinking?" category.

The hashtag was kicked off on Wednesday morning by Rowan Martin of the band the Rhythm Method, who needed to bare his soul about once having written a lyric that referenced a brand of porridge.

He didn't have to wait long for the floodgates to open and the hashtag has now been used more than 50,000 times. It was almost as if a generation of guitar band fans had just been waiting to be asked.

Some tweets captured the moment when childhood dreams were stamped on.

Others told of deceit and betrayal.

While a BBC journalist revealed he had played a small but crucial role in Pulp's history.

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While the hashtag provided a chance to publically atone for past sins, this musician's mea culpa was very much tongue in cheek.

Others clearly didn't care what the world thought.

Perhaps the most unexpected tweet came from John Prescott, who served as deputy prime minister under Tony Blair. He shared a cringe-making memory which seemed to date from the "Cool Britannia" period when Labour politicians tried to cosy up to Britpop bands like Blur and Oasis.

There was one figure who seems to have inspired more stories than anybody else: Pete Doherty of the Libertines. For many fans he seemed, at one time, to be the romantic poet of the age. His was a legend fuelled by chaotic creativity, an on-and-off relationship with supermodel Kate Moss, substance abuse problems and several spells in prison. Now many of those fans seem to be scratching their heads wondering what that was all about.

Whatever the emotion felt at the time, it's clear that most of those who have posted can look back now and laugh at their younger selves. And people who didn't go through the rite of passage of having a band they slavishly followed around, felt they might have missed out on something.

Blog by Ed Main

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