This year, the Albert Hall expressed plans to appeal to a younger, more boisterous crowd. After Pete Doherty's performance on Saturday night, though, it'll be longing for the hushed reverence of the Proms again.

For once, Doherty wasn't to blame for the commotion. Appearing on stage in a sharp suit, trademark trilby nowhere in sight, he hadn't looked this smart since his last court appearance. Doherty was lucid between songs, smiled throughout and sipped from the least rock'n'roll of drinking vessels: the tea cup.

At times, he sounded good, too. Time For Heroes and Can't Stand Me Now, both taken from Doherty's days in the jangly indie group The Libertines, worked well as stripped-down acoustic ballads. Newer songs such as There She Goes, from his current band The Babyshambles, pushed his voice into new territories, with soaring high notes that he hit and held convincingly.

Whether Doherty has the wealth of great material needed to pull off this kind of solo slot is debatable. To my ears at least, he has written a handful of catchy, vaguely poetic pop tunes, which fare much better in a band set-up. He does score highly, however, for braving the stage alone. A couple of years ago, Doherty's gig-dodging activities were such that fans would turn up to his show in hope rather than expectation. Here he was, sober, on time and, occasionally, on form.

Doherty dedicated What A Waster to the father who told him to give up music and find a real job. While it lacked the visceral punch of The Libertines version, the song could boast the first instance of the lyric "two bob c*nt" at the Albert Hall, which must surely make his father proud.

A 20-minute interval heralded a mass exodus to the venue's bars. Indeed, many of the crowd hadn't returned by the time Doherty appeared again for a gorgeous version of For Lovers, in which he was joined by his poet friend Wolfman.

One suspected that Wolfman was a better poet than singer but the rousing rendition left no doubt as to why it won Doherty a nomination for an Ivor Novello Award for songwriting.

Exiting to Down In Albion and returning for I Wish, Doherty was mobbed by a sea of fans. For some, this will symbolise the ultimate punk ending; for others, it will be seen as the final nail in the Pete Doherty coffin.

It seemed a crying shame that Doherty would be making the headlines again after the weekend for something other than his music.