At this years Camden Crawl I was asked by Vitamin Water to capture the vibe of the festival and given a festival goodie bag. ‘I was tickled by the contents of the pack which included a tent light, a poncho, an inflatable guitar, some frisbees and plenty of drink bottles amongst the many goodies. Considering I was only heading a few minutes down the road from my house I was impressed with how many bases had been covered.
With this in mind I decided to take a drastically different approach to enjoying The Crawl. In the past I had been too preoccupied with catching as many bands as possible whilst getting stressed out by the disorganised schedule thus missing out on any notion of experiencing the atmosphere. This year I would take it easy dropping in on a few bands and generally checking out my favourite local boozers and their impromptu gigs.
This sounded like a great plan until I set out on Saturday afternoon to collect my passes. Following a week of warm weather a familiar drizzle and cold chill descended on Camden and I bloody wished I had remembered that Poncho. Despite it only being a short walk by the time I had arrived to Koko I was already soaked to the bone. Tickets in hand I resolved to head back home to dry up and grab a bite whilst waiting for the rain to die down. After a quick stop at The Camden Arms I finally set out again to catch a part of Shy Child‘s and New Young Pony Club‘s performances.
Having seen Shy Child a few years back as main support at Shepherds Bush Empire I recalled that, despite playing to an empty room, the duo were entirely likeable. A few years on and they are touring in support of their second release ‘Liquid Love‘. I definitely liked the progression they’ve demonstrated with songs taking on a hard to place dreaminess that is far more “pop“, in the best possible sense of the word, than their previous output. It’s hard to believe there are just two members making this grand sound and tonight tracks from their two albums blend to great effect.
New Young Pony Club are a band that have benefited from an incredible wave of hype upon their debut. The followup up ‘The Optimist‘ is probably a more consistent effort brimming with confidence, just look at the album title. Singer Tahita Bumer is bursting with personality and constantly appears to have a bee in her bonnet which makes for interesting viewing; it doesn’t matter because the new material is captivating. Predictably the crowd goes mental for ‘Ice Cream‘ but the band set the bar high by playing so many songs from the new release.
On Sunday I fared considerably better seeing a few artists and generally enjoying the vibe with some good friends. Firstly I caught Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip in the large outdoor stage on Hawley Crescent. Despite the adverse weather conditions Pip had the crowd eating from his hands before he even said a word. Like some sort of political rally from a parallel universe everybody leaves pleased. Not too far away Norway‘s brilliant Casiokids gave another top performance at the Jazz Cafe later on. leading the crowd with their infectious sound there is an abundance of spontaneous dancing and crazy grins in the room. The band had energy to sell and on the live stage this translates brilliantly.
I also catch a part of Dev Hynes, AKA Lightspeed Champion‘s set at the Electric Ballroom and am positively thrilled. Despite having played ‘Falling Off Lavender Bridge‘ hundreds of times when it was released, I had almost forgotten how good these tracks sound. I still need to take in the new songs but generally enjoyed his energy and delivery. If there is any justice Lightspeed Champion should go supernova soon.
In between visits to the Lock Tavern and The Pembroke Castle I still managed to catch We Are Scientists close the night. Though I have enjoyed the band over the years if I am to be honest I have not really delved much into their material since the release of 2005’s ‘With Love And Squalor‘.
To the outsider their performance can sometimes feel like an in joke for them and their fans. The band speak a crazy slang when talking between themselves and the fans literally go ballistic for each and ever track. However, looking at the ensemble of odd balls in the room, both in the audience and on stage, it is impossible not to crack a smile.
This year’s Camden Crawl proved to be more enjoyable than past editions for me largely because I decided to take it easy only catching a few selected artists and a handful of street performances whilst soaking the atmosphere. Despite the weather doing its best to sabotage the weekend Camden and its multiple venues embraced the music. Thanks to Vitamin Water for sending me along.
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