The Camden Crawl 18th & 19th April 2008 (live review / feature)
Hanging out in a beer soaked pub in Camden hoping to catch a good band is not unusual for a music aficionado. Hanging out in Camden for 48 hours trying to catch 130 bands in 30 different venues, however, is an endurance test of marathon proportions. The Camden Crawl is an indie paradise dream come true. There’s no obvious big name headliner, which is part of the charm.
It’s impossible to catch every band, but with all the venues in such a small area you end up catching bands you’ve never heard of and end up being glad you did.
The Good Mixer played host to Winners early on Friday afternoon, and we felt like the winners for being in the right place at the right time.
Bar Vinyl turned into a full on rave for Hadouken! at 5:00pm. The stage was so small the guitarist had to stand on the side behind the speaker stack.
Proud’s first artist of the night was Californian ironic disco rapper Kennedy, whose pimp-daddy appearance and songs of all things white trash left a smile on everyone’s face.
Johnny Flynn at the Underworld Friday night was an amazing display blue grass indie folk that is sure to see him at the top of ‘the one’s to watch’ lists very soon.
Crystal Castles drew one of the biggest queues of Friday night at the Purple Turtle. It seemed to be style over substance at this gig, but apparently their set on Saturday was better.
Saturday afternoon saw SixNationState play their second outstanding set of the Crawl at the jam packed Tommy Flynn’s. Their raucous DIY rock n roll is as infectious as it is original. This was definitely one of the highlights of the weekend.
Fox Cub at the Good Mixer Saturday was so rammed quite few peered through the window to catch a glimpse.
It wasn’t much better with the fantastic American alt-rockers Eastern Conference Champions playing straight after, but at least a few more did managed to squeeze in.
Ironic rockers The Wave Pictures packed out N.W.1. bar at 6.45pm and even managed to get a sing along going. Rumour has it their set on Friday was even better.
An unexpected star was discovered at the Underworld when Sweden’s Lykke Li took the stage. Her soulful voice and street attitude twist into an electro pop dream. She’ll be an indie darling before long.
Through out the two days, you see musicians walking up Camden High Street with their equipment trying to get to their next gig. You over hear conversations between punters about who they just saw and who they’re rushing off to see next. You intend to head to one venue, and then get distracted by the noise coming from another so stop to have a look just so you don’t miss anything.
The Camden Crawl is one of the UK’s best inner-city music festivals, not only because it’s a taste-maker showcase of emerging talent, it’s also the brilliant and remarkably chilled out atmosphere it creates for fans to discover great music.
To keep the indie vibe flowing long after the Crawl has ended, each ticket holder was given a free download code through 7 Digital, where you can get a 32-track compilation album of artists who performed. With tracks from The Bookhouse Boys, Fanfarlo, Tellison, Does It Offend You Yeah, Operator Please and Metronomy, just to name a few, you get another opportunity to discover the bands you missed.
By Alison Kerry
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Given that last year’s Camden Crawl was one of my best ever nights out in London; it was with excitement that I asked to review it this year. However, it’s now 10.00, our train to London from Norwich has been delayed half an hour and I’ve only had five hours sleep. This is not a good start. The train is packed as a result of the cancelled 9.30 train and we are currently having our ears serenaded by someone who’s headphones (playing ludicrous hair metal) we can hear from the other end of the carriage and the mother and daughter in front of us, who are seemingly unaware of social etiquette as they shout their way through a torturous journey.
As we pass through Ipswich, there isn’t even standing room left in the carriage and it’s horribly claustrophobic. Quite why all these people aren’t at work is just one of the many things we ponder, having exhausted ‘band name’ hangman and the guardian already in the journey (apparently INXS serve at least one purpose). It’s horribly claustrophobic and even getting to the toilet is impossible as our carriage has developed a territorial feel; the aisle is a no-go for ‘seaters’ like us.
The mother and daughter in front of us, having already argued with the people whose reserved seats they took, now decide that it’s time for a mid-journey snack. They produce the smelliest food possible; pepperami and lemon and scampi nik naks. The mother then overhears our conversation and, taking a fancy to my friend Tom, sees a chance to woo him. Persistently. The day is already good…
It’s 12.30 and we’re waiting for a bus from Liverpool Street to Camden (Tom’s inspired way to avoid the cost of tubes). Still recovering from our grim journey south, we cheer ourselves up by playing ‘What would you rather?’ Tom would rather be a Frog Boy than have hooks for hands…
16.00 – After much queuing and running around Camden to get hold of my plus one ticket, we finally have our wristbands on. Having planned what seems like a good line up for the day (Lucy and the Caterpillar/Jeremy Warmsley/Bombay Bicycle Club/Florence and the Machine/Johnny Flynn/Noah and the Whale/Noisettes) we have lunch. One all you can eat vegetarian Chinese buffet later, we retreat to the Wetherpoons (Ice Wharf) for currency purposes (it’s only £2.40 a pint). The atmosphere in here is predictably dead. £15 worth of It Box redeems it slightly, but it’s telling that we feel increasingly sluggish the longer we stay here. We decide to sample instead some of the day time line up, but having seen the que s for the comedy we are deterred and instead buy some gin and mixers and find a quiet area to begin a life of vagrancy…
18.15 - After several cans of lager and a bottle of gin between us, it’s finally time to go and see some bands. Although there are daytime activities provided at Camden Crawl, they all seem to be very busy and drinks are expensive so it was decided that covert al fresco drinking would be best. Lucy and the Caterpillar clashes with Jeremy Warsmley, but I’m keen to see some of her set, however briefly. We catch about a song and a half at Oh Bar before I insist on leaving to see Mr Warmsley. However, in that time the disarmingly beautiful Lucy still charms us with her bijou, Regina Spektor-esque acoustic ditties. However Jeremy Warmsley, playing at NW1, is an altogether more heavyweight affair. Playing with his band, Jeremy’s set comprises of almost entirely new songs and a packed venue responds appreciatively. Particular highlights include his cover of New Order’s Temptation, a B-side of his forthcoming single Boat Song and Crane Flies which, as ever, charms with its breathtaking piano solo. Having seen Jeremy several times in the last year, I was struck by how confident this performance was and, with a free Red Stripe from him in hand, we leave pretty spellbound. We also spot Dan, star of Jeremy’s Welcome to our TV Show, in the audience and we are tempted to ask him for an interesting fact before realising that his minor celebrity doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t think we’re twats…
Tom had been insisting that he wanted to see some tight indie bands during Camden Crawl so next we jog to Electric Ballroom to catch Bombay Bicycle Club. We’re still fairly inebriated and their set leaves me a little cold, which is a shame because I enjoyed them at Leeds festival. Still, songs such as Open House are undeniably smile inducing and their Strokes-ey rhythms certainly please Tom. Next up is Florence and the Machine, one of the acts I’m most excited about seeing. And so we take the long walk to the Crescent…
…only to find that the queue is huge. We consider embracing it, but its cold and a peek in the window only serves to confirm to us that the venue is unbearably full and our chances of seeing anything slim. Cutting our losses, we go for an Indian instead (a very reasonable £7 for a chicken biryani) before walking to Underworld to see Johnny Flynn.
9.00 – We make it to Underworld and it’s not too busy. The queue for the bar is pretty unavoidable though. Tom gets talking to a fellow northerner in the bar queue and so I’m stuck making small talk with his drunk, cretinous friend. He talks about football, but then gets aggressive when I disagree with him. Deciding he’s a moron, and hearing the opening lyrics of A Box, we depart the bar and go to watch Johnny Flynn. His set is quite short, but his voice sounds amazing. We don’t have the best viewpoint, but his band sound very tight and the consensus between Tom and I is that, Jeremy Warmsley aside, Johnny Flynn is the best we’ve seen today. Leftovers is a particular treat and surely a future single.
Leaving with our hope intact for the rest of the evening, after the annoyance of missing Florence and the Machine, we decide to make a visit to Morrisons en route to the Roundhouse to pick up some beers pre-Noah and the Whale. After a stint of drinking in their car park (not our finest moment) we finally arrive at the Roundhouse to find, unsurprisingly, that there’s a huge queue outside. Quite how the Roundhouse can be full, considering how big it is, baffles me but we decide to finally succumb to the queues that have haunted us tonight. After fifteen minutes we make the front, only to discover that there is a further queue – INSIDE the venue. Realising that we’ve already missed half their set, we abandon Noah and the Whale and decide to see how busy it is at Underworld, where Noisettes are due to play at 00.30. Tom wants a KFC before we get there and, against my wishes, buys me a burger there as well. Grudgingly I eat it (this will come back to haunt me later…)
11.15 – We walk past Underworld and the queue is already sprawling. Given that it’s cold and we haven’t been inside a venue for over an hour, we decide that maybe it’s best to just go straight to Koko now, lest we wait any longer and can’t even get in there. We arrive to a half full Koko and brace ourselves for having to endure Robyn, who is on at 00.30. Robyn comes on and Koko is lacking in atmosphere. It’s like somebody’s mum is on stage doing karaoke. Embarrassing is perhaps the word I’m searching for. Quite who she is on the bill to appeal to is a mystery but we are forced to sit and wait for her turgid collection of chart-friendly ‘hits’ to come to an end. Considering last year the last band to play Koko were the excellent Goose, it is a shame that someone similar isn’t playing this slot; you can’t help but feel the likes of Crystal Castles would have been better suited. I begin to feel queasy (possibly because of the dire music) and am forced to bring my KFC up in Koko toilets. Tom has disappeared when I come out and I spend twenty minutes finding him (during which time I spot Lucy and the Caterpillar, introduce myself, and then realise I have nothing to say). This part of the evening is the zenith of my drunkenness and so a little hazy. I get water and sit and wait for Tom…
02.00 – XFM DJs are on until 04.00, which is good as we have to stay awake until our trains around 07.00. A typically ‘indie’ selection of songs, coupled with some rather more unsavoury choices (The Enemy, anyone?) means that we happily spend the next two hours on the dance floor, albeit with a few gaps whilst we wait for the next good song to come on. The XFM DJs are ok, if a little average in their choice of songs. We remain here until the dance floor is embarrassingly empty…
04.30 – We are sitting outside Kings Cross Station waiting for it to open. It is cold. A taxi full of girls are sitting with us, boasting about how they got an insurance banker to buy them £400 pounds worth of drinks in a Mayfair club. They are about 17 and not attractive so the joke is on him. We remain waiting outside until 05.00 when the doors open. However, thirty minutes is long enough for a man to ask us if we want to buy some wine with him, invite all of us to his flat and, when he realises the young girls aren’t with us, begin to stalk them. He is ridiculous. He is also quite volatile and so I don’t get involved as he begins to proposition the gaggle of school girls. Finally the doors open and we get inside (and away from him). One cup of tea later, “The milkiest cup ever, they’ve given me more milk than tea!” and I have to leave Tom and get the tube to Liverpool Street as he’s going back to Hull. I’ve been awake over 24 hours at this point and feel removed from reality somewhat.
06.00 – Liverpool Street station. The long wait alone. I’ve got an hour until my train arrives. To keep myself awake I people watch. Everywhere I look are groups of fellow crawlers, all looking equally hung over and deprived asleep. This is the longest sixty minutes of my life. Finally, my train arrives.
09.00 – I arrive in Norwich having got no sleep on the train. I also couldn’t find the toilet. It was an uncomfortable two hours. I feel ill.
10.15 – Finally I arrive home, 28 hours after getting up. I feel awful and my wallet is a good £60 lighter. Was it worth it? I had a fantastic time. However, quite how much of that was due to Camden Crawl is debatable. We saw very few bands and every venue we made it into was packed or became so within ten minutes of our arrival. It’s true our unwillingness to queue wasn’t conducive, yet that’s not why we wanted to go to Camden Crawl. The parts of the night I enjoyed most were arguably those which were not officially part of Camden Crawl; the drinking on a bench, the Indian meal etc. And yet I’ve been the last two years now and had an amazing time both years so it’s difficult to knock the event. Perhaps you just have to be dedicated enough to arrive an hour before the band you want to see are due on or wait it out in the queue. Or embrace the atmosphere, buy a four pack and take up vagrancy for the day…
By Lewis Morton
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Bookmark and share this page with:It’s impossible to catch every band, but with all the venues in such a small area you end up catching bands you’ve never heard of and end up being glad you did.
The Good Mixer played host to Winners early on Friday afternoon, and we felt like the winners for being in the right place at the right time.Bar Vinyl turned into a full on rave for Hadouken! at 5:00pm. The stage was so small the guitarist had to stand on the side behind the speaker stack.Proud’s first artist of the night was Californian ironic disco rapper Kennedy, whose pimp-daddy appearance and songs of all things white trash left a smile on everyone’s face.Johnny Flynn at the Underworld Friday night was an amazing display blue grass indie folk that is sure to see him at the top of ‘the one’s to watch’ lists very soon.Crystal Castles drew one of the biggest queues of Friday night at the Purple Turtle. It seemed to be style over substance at this gig, but apparently their set on Saturday was better.Saturday afternoon saw SixNationState play their second outstanding set of the Crawl at the jam packed Tommy Flynn’s. Their raucous DIY rock n roll is as infectious as it is original. This was definitely one of the highlights of the weekend.Fox Cub at the Good Mixer Saturday was so rammed quite few peered through the window to catch a glimpse.
It wasn’t much better with the fantastic American alt-rockers Eastern Conference Champions playing straight after, but at least a few more did managed to squeeze in.Ironic rockers The Wave Pictures packed out N.W.1. bar at 6.45pm and even managed to get a sing along going. Rumour has it their set on Friday was even better.An unexpected star was discovered at the Underworld when Sweden’s Lykke Li took the stage. Her soulful voice and street attitude twist into an electro pop dream. She’ll be an indie darling before long.Through out the two days, you see musicians walking up Camden High Street with their equipment trying to get to their next gig. You over hear conversations between punters about who they just saw and who they’re rushing off to see next. You intend to head to one venue, and then get distracted by the noise coming from another so stop to have a look just so you don’t miss anything.
The Camden Crawl is one of the UK’s best inner-city music festivals, not only because it’s a taste-maker showcase of emerging talent, it’s also the brilliant and remarkably chilled out atmosphere it creates for fans to discover great music.
To keep the indie vibe flowing long after the Crawl has ended, each ticket holder was given a free download code through 7 Digital, where you can get a 32-track compilation album of artists who performed. With tracks from The Bookhouse Boys, Fanfarlo, Tellison, Does It Offend You Yeah, Operator Please and Metronomy, just to name a few, you get another opportunity to discover the bands you missed.
By Alison Kerry
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Given that last year’s Camden Crawl was one of my best ever nights out in London; it was with excitement that I asked to review it this year. However, it’s now 10.00, our train to London from Norwich has been delayed half an hour and I’ve only had five hours sleep. This is not a good start. The train is packed as a result of the cancelled 9.30 train and we are currently having our ears serenaded by someone who’s headphones (playing ludicrous hair metal) we can hear from the other end of the carriage and the mother and daughter in front of us, who are seemingly unaware of social etiquette as they shout their way through a torturous journey.
As we pass through Ipswich, there isn’t even standing room left in the carriage and it’s horribly claustrophobic. Quite why all these people aren’t at work is just one of the many things we ponder, having exhausted ‘band name’ hangman and the guardian already in the journey (apparently INXS serve at least one purpose). It’s horribly claustrophobic and even getting to the toilet is impossible as our carriage has developed a territorial feel; the aisle is a no-go for ‘seaters’ like us.
The mother and daughter in front of us, having already argued with the people whose reserved seats they took, now decide that it’s time for a mid-journey snack. They produce the smelliest food possible; pepperami and lemon and scampi nik naks. The mother then overhears our conversation and, taking a fancy to my friend Tom, sees a chance to woo him. Persistently. The day is already good…
It’s 12.30 and we’re waiting for a bus from Liverpool Street to Camden (Tom’s inspired way to avoid the cost of tubes). Still recovering from our grim journey south, we cheer ourselves up by playing ‘What would you rather?’ Tom would rather be a Frog Boy than have hooks for hands…
16.00 – After much queuing and running around Camden to get hold of my plus one ticket, we finally have our wristbands on. Having planned what seems like a good line up for the day (Lucy and the Caterpillar/Jeremy Warmsley/Bombay Bicycle Club/Florence and the Machine/Johnny Flynn/Noah and the Whale/Noisettes) we have lunch. One all you can eat vegetarian Chinese buffet later, we retreat to the Wetherpoons (Ice Wharf) for currency purposes (it’s only £2.40 a pint). The atmosphere in here is predictably dead. £15 worth of It Box redeems it slightly, but it’s telling that we feel increasingly sluggish the longer we stay here. We decide to sample instead some of the day time line up, but having seen the que s for the comedy we are deterred and instead buy some gin and mixers and find a quiet area to begin a life of vagrancy…
18.15 - After several cans of lager and a bottle of gin between us, it’s finally time to go and see some bands. Although there are daytime activities provided at Camden Crawl, they all seem to be very busy and drinks are expensive so it was decided that covert al fresco drinking would be best. Lucy and the Caterpillar clashes with Jeremy Warsmley, but I’m keen to see some of her set, however briefly. We catch about a song and a half at Oh Bar before I insist on leaving to see Mr Warmsley. However, in that time the disarmingly beautiful Lucy still charms us with her bijou, Regina Spektor-esque acoustic ditties. However Jeremy Warmsley, playing at NW1, is an altogether more heavyweight affair. Playing with his band, Jeremy’s set comprises of almost entirely new songs and a packed venue responds appreciatively. Particular highlights include his cover of New Order’s Temptation, a B-side of his forthcoming single Boat Song and Crane Flies which, as ever, charms with its breathtaking piano solo. Having seen Jeremy several times in the last year, I was struck by how confident this performance was and, with a free Red Stripe from him in hand, we leave pretty spellbound. We also spot Dan, star of Jeremy’s Welcome to our TV Show, in the audience and we are tempted to ask him for an interesting fact before realising that his minor celebrity doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t think we’re twats…
Tom had been insisting that he wanted to see some tight indie bands during Camden Crawl so next we jog to Electric Ballroom to catch Bombay Bicycle Club. We’re still fairly inebriated and their set leaves me a little cold, which is a shame because I enjoyed them at Leeds festival. Still, songs such as Open House are undeniably smile inducing and their Strokes-ey rhythms certainly please Tom. Next up is Florence and the Machine, one of the acts I’m most excited about seeing. And so we take the long walk to the Crescent…
…only to find that the queue is huge. We consider embracing it, but its cold and a peek in the window only serves to confirm to us that the venue is unbearably full and our chances of seeing anything slim. Cutting our losses, we go for an Indian instead (a very reasonable £7 for a chicken biryani) before walking to Underworld to see Johnny Flynn.
9.00 – We make it to Underworld and it’s not too busy. The queue for the bar is pretty unavoidable though. Tom gets talking to a fellow northerner in the bar queue and so I’m stuck making small talk with his drunk, cretinous friend. He talks about football, but then gets aggressive when I disagree with him. Deciding he’s a moron, and hearing the opening lyrics of A Box, we depart the bar and go to watch Johnny Flynn. His set is quite short, but his voice sounds amazing. We don’t have the best viewpoint, but his band sound very tight and the consensus between Tom and I is that, Jeremy Warmsley aside, Johnny Flynn is the best we’ve seen today. Leftovers is a particular treat and surely a future single.
Leaving with our hope intact for the rest of the evening, after the annoyance of missing Florence and the Machine, we decide to make a visit to Morrisons en route to the Roundhouse to pick up some beers pre-Noah and the Whale. After a stint of drinking in their car park (not our finest moment) we finally arrive at the Roundhouse to find, unsurprisingly, that there’s a huge queue outside. Quite how the Roundhouse can be full, considering how big it is, baffles me but we decide to finally succumb to the queues that have haunted us tonight. After fifteen minutes we make the front, only to discover that there is a further queue – INSIDE the venue. Realising that we’ve already missed half their set, we abandon Noah and the Whale and decide to see how busy it is at Underworld, where Noisettes are due to play at 00.30. Tom wants a KFC before we get there and, against my wishes, buys me a burger there as well. Grudgingly I eat it (this will come back to haunt me later…)
11.15 – We walk past Underworld and the queue is already sprawling. Given that it’s cold and we haven’t been inside a venue for over an hour, we decide that maybe it’s best to just go straight to Koko now, lest we wait any longer and can’t even get in there. We arrive to a half full Koko and brace ourselves for having to endure Robyn, who is on at 00.30. Robyn comes on and Koko is lacking in atmosphere. It’s like somebody’s mum is on stage doing karaoke. Embarrassing is perhaps the word I’m searching for. Quite who she is on the bill to appeal to is a mystery but we are forced to sit and wait for her turgid collection of chart-friendly ‘hits’ to come to an end. Considering last year the last band to play Koko were the excellent Goose, it is a shame that someone similar isn’t playing this slot; you can’t help but feel the likes of Crystal Castles would have been better suited. I begin to feel queasy (possibly because of the dire music) and am forced to bring my KFC up in Koko toilets. Tom has disappeared when I come out and I spend twenty minutes finding him (during which time I spot Lucy and the Caterpillar, introduce myself, and then realise I have nothing to say). This part of the evening is the zenith of my drunkenness and so a little hazy. I get water and sit and wait for Tom…
02.00 – XFM DJs are on until 04.00, which is good as we have to stay awake until our trains around 07.00. A typically ‘indie’ selection of songs, coupled with some rather more unsavoury choices (The Enemy, anyone?) means that we happily spend the next two hours on the dance floor, albeit with a few gaps whilst we wait for the next good song to come on. The XFM DJs are ok, if a little average in their choice of songs. We remain here until the dance floor is embarrassingly empty…
04.30 – We are sitting outside Kings Cross Station waiting for it to open. It is cold. A taxi full of girls are sitting with us, boasting about how they got an insurance banker to buy them £400 pounds worth of drinks in a Mayfair club. They are about 17 and not attractive so the joke is on him. We remain waiting outside until 05.00 when the doors open. However, thirty minutes is long enough for a man to ask us if we want to buy some wine with him, invite all of us to his flat and, when he realises the young girls aren’t with us, begin to stalk them. He is ridiculous. He is also quite volatile and so I don’t get involved as he begins to proposition the gaggle of school girls. Finally the doors open and we get inside (and away from him). One cup of tea later, “The milkiest cup ever, they’ve given me more milk than tea!” and I have to leave Tom and get the tube to Liverpool Street as he’s going back to Hull. I’ve been awake over 24 hours at this point and feel removed from reality somewhat.
06.00 – Liverpool Street station. The long wait alone. I’ve got an hour until my train arrives. To keep myself awake I people watch. Everywhere I look are groups of fellow crawlers, all looking equally hung over and deprived asleep. This is the longest sixty minutes of my life. Finally, my train arrives.
09.00 – I arrive in Norwich having got no sleep on the train. I also couldn’t find the toilet. It was an uncomfortable two hours. I feel ill.
10.15 – Finally I arrive home, 28 hours after getting up. I feel awful and my wallet is a good £60 lighter. Was it worth it? I had a fantastic time. However, quite how much of that was due to Camden Crawl is debatable. We saw very few bands and every venue we made it into was packed or became so within ten minutes of our arrival. It’s true our unwillingness to queue wasn’t conducive, yet that’s not why we wanted to go to Camden Crawl. The parts of the night I enjoyed most were arguably those which were not officially part of Camden Crawl; the drinking on a bench, the Indian meal etc. And yet I’ve been the last two years now and had an amazing time both years so it’s difficult to knock the event. Perhaps you just have to be dedicated enough to arrive an hour before the band you want to see are due on or wait it out in the queue. Or embrace the atmosphere, buy a four pack and take up vagrancy for the day…
By Lewis Morton
Click here to read more Camden Crawl related articles
