Camden Crawl, London 1st & 2nd May 2010

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Photo Credit: Sonny Malhotra

Saturday

In forgoing my cardinal rule of steering well clear of Camden High Street on the weekends, I am slightly afraid that I might get lost in a sea of lanyard wearing festival-goers, not to mention the normal weekend crowd going about their business, the moment I step outside my front door. Luckily as the door slams behind me, I realise my fear is probably somewhat irrational and head off to Koko with Sonny to collect my wristband.

After a breezy half an hour of waiting, we are issued with a festival guide, a map and our wristbands…and just in case you were wondering, yes, a ticket to see the Sugababes as well.

Stretching from Mornington Crescent to Kentish Town, the festival is crammed with more comedy, music and secret gigs than you could shake a stick at, and certainly more than this avid music fan could pack into one evening. So time to make a plan… and maybe have an oreo cookie milkshake?

The day starts off pretty slowly as we wander around checking out the local acts at the Hawley Arms, before meandering over to the Camden Eye for the Red Stripe Busking sessions. We are pretty lucky, as we get to the Eye a guy called Dan Cook is about to take to the stage. He looks a bit bashful, but I soon realise that’s because he can’t find a plectrum. He asks around for one but no-one seems to have one, but its ok because he’s come prepared not with a plectrum, with a pair of scissors and an old bankcard. He picks up his guitar, which is covered with pictures of his friends, and begins to sing with a voice that gently croaks. Playing through a short 20 minute, set his acoustic minimalist folk is really rather endearing, and his cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Just Like A Woman’ is brimming with emotion and energy.

Pulled Apart By Horses

After an afternoon of meandering around town watching small gigs (and desperately wishing that the Screen Printing workshop at The Black Heart would let us design our own TLOBF poster), we head over to The Electric Ball Room to catch latest Transgressive signing, Pulled Apart By Horses, kick off the evening line up. Providing the day with some much-needed frenzied delirium, these boys seem intent on infecting the crowd with their own brand of hell bent disorder as they launch into blistering crowd favourites ‘E=MC Hammer’ and ‘I Punched A Lion in The Throat’. Suddenly shocked back into life, weary crawlers forget mundane troubles of rain and sore feet as they begin to thrash about as wildly as the band. Meanwhile frontman Tom Hudson beats himself up on stage with his own howling guitar before rushing into the barriers to the adulation of the crowd. And as the last fractured, angular guitar riffs and screeching vocals ring out across the ballroom, we duck out to catch the end of Lonelady’s set at the Jazz Café.

The Jazz Café is a whole world apart from the Electric Ballroom; the toe-tapping audience watching in a subdued hush as the Manchester based Lonelady begins to play ‘Intuition’. Her supporting live band offer up a world of beautifully experimental indie accompanied by staccato lyrics, summer infused guitar twangs and an ethereal yet earthy voice.

As we file out of the Jazz Café we discussed, before heading on, whether Stornoway’s music is modern poetic genius or whether they’re just another over-rated mediocre chequered-shirt wearing folk pop band to emerge from Oxford. We head to Koko.

Upon entering the old Palais there is barely a crawler in site but, within minutes, the place is packed. The opening violin strings are much more blissful than the radio edits make out, and as the gentle guitar strums soar through the balconies of Koko I slowly begin to see why they were picked up by BBC Introducing back in 2006. Recently released ‘I Saw You Blind’ is a definite highlight – a carefree summer ditty whose bass line rolls effortlessly as the symbols shimmer softly in the background.

It is almost a shame they’ve permeated the mainstream as Koko just seems like too big a venue for them. Their sound would be more suited to an intimate gig, one which would see them step back from their microphones and play an unplugged set; letting the honesty of the swelling cello strings and the rawness of drum beats ring out.

Billy Childish

We soon loose interest in their delicately nuanced pop harmonies and skittering acoustic folk so we hot foot it to The Blues Kitchen in the hope we will not be too late to see the artists, troubadour, ‘gifted loser’ and legend that is Billy Childish. The place is packed, the queue is around the block but we manage to get in and battle our way to the front through a crowd of both young and aging rockers.

Childish and his band, Musicians of The British Empire, play a blistering set of punk infused analogue blues, including politically motivated ‘Thatcher’s Children’ and a raucous version of Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Fire’. Looking around, if I didn’t know better, I would say that the whole place got sucked back to the 1970s, “when rock n’ roll really meant rock n’ roll man”…or at least that’s what the guy next to me slurred at he thrashed about like a teenager.

Like we’re running a bloody Relay Marathon, we dash off to hand over the baton to The Earl of Camden and the band Left With Pictures therein. Championed by the likes of Steve Lamacq and Lauren Laverne, this is definitely going to be a highlight of the weekend. With no raised stage it is impossible to see the band, so I suppose listening would have to do. A hushed reverence fills the venue as the familiar violin strings open their set, accompanied by the multi-layered vocals of ‘Every Stitch, Every Line’. Truly enchanting, the folk sensibilities of ‘River Avon’ send shivers down my spine in this swelteringly hot room.

Teetering between caffeine and alcohol we head back to The Blues Kicthen, where the benefits of a press pass become evident. Tonight’s performance by mod indie New Yorkers The Drums is one of the most highly anticipated performances of the Crawl, and it certainly does highlight one of the festivals downfalls. With more punters than any one venue could possibly have room for, a lot of people spend half the time queuing up for gigs that are already over capacity so that old ‘one in, one out’ chestnut comes into play.

The Drums

With pretty much the same people at the front as before, the queue and its umbrellas now stretch beyond Delancey Street. In the distance you can hear the mumbled mutterings of wise words “Sorry, but you’re just not going to get in. You’ll catch a cold, just go somewhere else…there are plenty of other bands playing right now.” There certainly are plenty of other bands playing right now that I would love to see such as Dead Meadow, Slow Club and Eliza Doolittle, but as a casualty of the line-up, cannot. This is a problem at any festival, but the difference is you don’t have to queue up outside Glastonbury in the pouring rain to watch someone play the Pyramid Stage, you stand in the pouring rain already watching them.

Taking a moment to appreciate how fortunate we are to have been able to see Left With Pictures inbetween Blues Kitchen sets, we head inside. People are standing and sitting on top of the booths, craning their necks to get a glimpse of the stage at the end of the narrow dance floor. Again we manage to get near the front so we can get some good pictures, this act doesn’t go unnoticed by the rather intoxicated group of guys next to me who persist in insulting me for the next few minutes.

The Drums take to the stage to wild cheers and an immediate crowd surge as they launch into ‘Best Friend.’ Front man Jonathan Pierce throws shapes on stage like its 1980 and he’s at a disco, whilst stage right I have never seen someone throw themselves around so enthusiastically playing nothing but the tambourine.

The smooth, boyish vocals of Pierce have always landed just the acceptable side of whiney for me – and the crowd seem to agree, singing along to every yelp and every lyric. As the whistle of ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ rings out over the crowd and the bass line starts walking at speed, The Drums sound like The Cure took a day trip to the sunny West Coast with The Beach Boys. People are dancing from the front to the back, throwing their hands euphorically in the air to the achingly affected harmonies, teenage melancholia abnd exhausted sighs of ‘I Felt Stupid’. Picking up the tempo, sassy retro guitar number ‘Submarine’, like many of their songs, mixes distinct influence from the optimism of the 50s and the indie angst of the 80s. As we make a move, and continue to whistle the infectious pop melody of ‘Let’s Go Surfing’, I am happy with my choice of Saturday night headliners, although I am still disappointed I missed Slow Club and Dead Meadow.

Summer Camp

Summer Camp wind the evening down over at the Jazz Café with ‘Ghost Train’ and its sparse lo-fi alt pop beats, jittering keys and catchy “do-do-do’s.” Their shoegaze inspired indie is the perfect end to a day trekking around Camden in the rain, so we decide to call it a night and head home, leaving behind a slightly damp and drunken crowd hazily dancing to 1920s music.

Sunday

Time for round two, and even though it’s miserable and cold outside, todays line up has me even more excited than yesterday. That, combined with my overcome fear of anywhere north of Camden Town tube station at the weekend, means today is undoubtedly going to be a good one…I think I will go for a chocolate peanut butter milkshake this morning.

We head over the Red Bull Bedroom Jam Arena to watch Scroobius Pip vs Dan le Sac open Sunday in style. There is a large group of crawlers braving the weather to dance along to the infectious generated beats, spluttering guitar skips and spoken word stylings of this duo, even though, as Scroobius points out, they are playing inside, in the warm later. I’m pretty sure that a lot of people here haven’t yet gone home from the night before, but they seem livelier for it. The pair play through a set that includes ‘I Feel Sick Tonight’, ‘Look For The Woman’ and of course ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill.’

Before picking up a large biblical looking book and a performing a particularly scathing rendition of ‘Stake A Claim’, Scroobius announces that he is running for president in the General Election and wonders if there are still any undecided voters amongst the audience. In order to aid them in this important decision he hands out three masks, (of Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg and David Cameron) to three particularly rambunctious kids saying that whoever is the best dancer should win your vote at the election. When the song is over, the vote is cast and the winner announced as the boy wearing the Nick Clegg mask, we’ll soon see (if we haven’t already) if there is any correlation.

After having my ear drums well and truly blown out I speedily make my way over to the Roundhouse Café where my hands and feet begin to thaw and where I find Teenage Fanclub doing a session on NME radio.

After a while we head back over the Red Bull Arena to catch Sheffield rockers and Biffy Clyro support slot holders Rolo Tomassi. The crowd is young and the same three mask wearing kids have started a mosh pit already. When the band finally turn up it is to a rather unenthusiastic cheer: the howling guitar and screeching vocals are probably a bit much for casual listeners at 4 in the afternoon.

Their techno driven math core screamo is instrumentally on point in set opener ‘I Love Turbulence’ as guitarist Joe Nicholson shreds his electric guitar against the catchy and beautifully frantic synths of James Spence. I distinctly remember hearing Rolo Tomassi on the radio and liking what I heard. Today is a little bit of a disappointment as they play a chaotically disjointed set of songs that are just not designed to be listened to outdoors on a Sunday afternoon. Hopefully their headlining support slot tonight will be better.

Rolo Tomassi

After a well needed respite from the cold we head over to the Dublin Castle to join a more mature crowd awaiting the arrival of Alan Pownall. As he takes to the Bloody Awful Poetry stage you can practically hear a unanimous sigh of ‘my god, he does look like Bowie doesn’t he?!’. He and his band look dapper in suits as they open with the beautifully heart felt ‘Take Me’, with delicate glockenspiel chimes and heavily bowed violin strings that soar above the looping drum beat. Pownall plays through a set including most well known ‘Chasing Time’ and one of his earliest and captivating releases ‘Colourful Day’.

Dublin Castle may not have been the best choices for a poetry stage whose music generally requires a respectful silence, or at most a pleasant humming along to whomever is on stage…not a rambunctious group of drunk-in-the middle-of-the-afternoon punters who didn’t really care what is on stage and insisted on having a shouting match in the background. This really came to a head when Pownall played a stripped back, unplugged version of the iconic Strokes anthem ‘Someday’ which he politely, and with a wry smile, knowing no one would comply, asked no-one sing along. Luckily after the first half of the song was plagued by the mass of garbled noise from the back, the group suddenly cottoned on and quietened down in order to softly sing along, a better result I think everyone, including the band, agreed.

Realising there is not time to see Eliza Doolittle before Lightspeed Champion we walk on down to the Electric Ballroom. As the lights dim there is rapturous applause as the audience realises Keith Murray of We Are Scientists fame has joined Dev Hynes on stage for ‘Marlene’. The intricate guitar riff is heavier than normal as Murray thrashes around the stage while Dev kneels over the edge of the stage, his smooth voice serenading the audience. He picks up the guitar after Murray departs and plays through mostly new material from his new album Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You. Old favourite ‘Galaxy Of The Lost’ definitely sparked the biggest sing along of the night, with call and response cries between Dev and the audience.

Lightspeed Champion

Now, for one of the toughest choices of the evening…Josh Weller at the Black Cap or Surfer Blood…having made the effort to fly in all the way from Florida I think it only fair I make an effort to see Surfer Blood at The Underworld. The Underworld always makes me slightly nervous, as you wind your way inside, down the narrow stairs, through what will always be smoke filled corridors and the dark bar. You’re never exactly sure where you have ended up or whether you’ll be able to find your way out again.

Feelings of claustrophobia melt away as soon as the 4 piece, plus their touring keyboardist, take to the stage looking like high school kids who, by some twist of fate, have ended up here instead of playing their prom. Kicking things off with ‘Fast Jabroni’ their guitars howl with feedback, the drums thud with a tempestuous energy, and they dance around stage with a frantic vigour. Surfer Blood’s sound is akin to Weezer’s early experimentation with punk, metal, indie and surf rock Americana and thankfully rather than settling on just one of the above they have created an intricate and exciting blend of all. After listening to ‘Swim’ on repeat back in 2009 when it was released I lost track of the band, so this track is a definite highlight of the set for me, along with ‘Floating Vibes’, ‘Anchorage’ and the slower, more melancholic ‘Harmonix.’

They close their set with ‘Catholic Pagans’ a track whose drums echo from being wrapped in tin foil whilst a cowbell echoes across this small room and the guitarist makes the guitar really sing as he plays with the effects pedals and the feedback. He looks so innocent as he stands back up to knock out blistering riff after catchy hook, but after turning my head for a second I look back to see him playing his guitar with his teeth. No sooner does this happen than the world’s smallest politest stage invasion takes place and the crowd goes absolutely mental. The lead vocalist dives head first into the swaying audience and crowd surfs out to the crackling feedback of his mic, which has been thrown against the speaker by another band member. Possibly my new favourite band…(although I’m sure in part influenced by the Weezer resurgence I’ve been going through of late)…I’m only annoyed I didn’t delve into more of their material sooner.

As soon as they finish, I navigate my way through the dingy rooms to find my way out and make the trek to the other side of Camden to watch We Are Scientists headline at the Roundhouse. It was a busy day for the band, who had earlier played a secret acoustic gig at a very over crowded Lock 17. As I head inside I bump into Dev Hynes in the corridor who will no doubt be reciprocating Keith Murray’s earlier move during Lightspeed Champion’s set.

Yuck

Staccato guitar strings and a rapturous applause kick off this portion of the night as they preview singles ‘Nice Guys’ and ‘Rules Don’t Stop’ from forthcoming album Barbara. A pounding and thundering bass line sends shock waves through the crowd who all begin to jump back and forth to ‘It’s A Hit’. Gradually building up energy We Are Scientists preview 6 new tracks as well as old classics such as ‘Inaction’, ‘The Great Escape’ and ‘Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt’ which finally gets the crowd moving. Dev joined them on stage for ‘Pittsburgh’ as well as 2008 hit ‘After Hours’.

I didn’t stay for the whole set, as I greedily wanted to watch the Delays at The Cuban Bar as well. Upon arrival the place is packed and there are many impatient faces outside. I only managed to catch the tail end of their performance as they played through a selection of new songs from up coming album Star Tiger, Star Ariel and had an in enchanted crowd singing along to the epic soundscape of ‘Nearer Than Heaven’ in between chants to let an ejected fan back in.

Right, the nights not over yet as I rush over to Camden Rock to catch the act that I have perhaps been the most excited about this entire weekend. When I arrive it is about 20 minutes until Yuck are due to take to the stage and the place is gradually filling up.

Born from the split of Cajun Dance Party, bassist Max (now guitar) and singer Danny formed Yuck with a new drummer from State Side and a bassist from Hiroshima. When they arrive Jonny the drummer thanks everyone for staying out late “and I want to thank your parents too, you must all have very kind parents!”

Using ‘Auld Lang Syne’ to sound check they play through a set that includes the ridiculously infectious ‘The Wall’, ‘Operation’, ‘Doctors’ and a beautifully gritty, analogue ‘Gerogia.’ These guys are definitely the highlight of the weekend for me, and despite narrowly avoiding a chavy female punch up in the bathroom; it is a great end to a festival whose line-up didn’t quite match up to last years on the major Roundhouse headliners appeal (I mean Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs vs the Sugababes, I know who my money is on) but whose smaller fringe gigs gave a great platform to new underexposed talent.