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Camden Crawl News Review Blog – Day 1

added 19 April 2008 at 07.38

You can also get up-to-the-minute news and drunken ramblings from the Xfm Online team and X-posure’s John Kennedy by checking out the Twitter page here. Enjoy…

15:35 “Gold! Always believe in your soul…”

We’re accosted in the street by a mass of people wearing “Always believe in Santogold” sandwich-boards. Just as our iPod shufflew skips to a Santogold [MySpace] track. And we think we see her in the throng. Weird… [JF]

 

16:00 Boy, Oh Boy

It’s still early but in the upstairs bar at Dingwalls, Boy Kill Boy [MySpace] are strumming out the chords to the Flight Of The Conchords ‘hit’ ‘Business Time’ and snickering to each other.

They’re also setting up to play a mighty fine acoustic session including recent tunes ‘A-OK’ and ‘Promises’. Quality stuff from the relative veterans (compared to the other young hopefuls on the Crawl line-up) as they prepare for their gig proper later tonight. [JF]

17:00 The Kids Are... Um, Not Here? 

Bar Vinyl's playing host to a band whose fanbase is typically too young to get into a bar such as this. So after endless 14+ gigs around the country it's a bit weird to be watching grown men rocking out to Hadouken! [MySpace]. 

However, the venue is so busy that appranetly even their A&R can't get in, and an adoring crowd seem to care little for singer James Smith's apparent sore throat. 'Declaration Of War' and 'That Boy That Girl' fizz along with typical vigour but, for a band who've regularly performed better than this, it's still slightly disappointing. [SS]

17:00 “On Yer Bike…”

Tucked away behind Solo bar, there’s a mini riot going on. And that’s mini in both size and stature around a hundred under-eighteens enjoy one of the only events they’re allowed into, the Red Bull Bedroom Jam stage.

Earlier Hadouken! played the outdoor venue (there’s still evidence of fluro on punters T-shirts / faces / legs / you name it), but we’re here to see Bombay Bicycle Club [MySpace], a band who – like many of their audience - are barely out of school. Not that this matters of course as the four piece prove they have more ideas in each song than most bands have in their whole album. Marvellous stuff. [JF]

17:30 “Spread ‘Em…”

Over at the Spread Eagle boozer it’s time for some honey ale and a proper folk hoe down with the superb Noah And The Whale [MySpace]. A band with a very promising future, today they’re stripped back to semi acoustic.

However, augmented by some newly added horns and some excellent fiddle playing, N&TW start the party early with singer Charlie’s baritone recalling a younger Johnny Cash in places. And just when things can’t get any better they mix 90’s pop ‘classic’ ‘Sweets For My Sweet’ into the outro of their biggest tune to date ‘5 Years Time’. Laura Marling may be missing on vocals today (the price you pay for also having a solo album to promote) but N&TW still easily raise the bar for their Crawl peers.  [JF]

18:00 “Stella!”

At Koko, the Crawl’s biggest venue, the Xfm party is just kicking off. We’ve got the likes of The Fratellis, Sam Isaac, Los Campesinos! all playing over the two days, but first on is Stockholm’s new star-in-waiting Ida Maria [MySpace].

Backed by a band who look like they’ve spent as much time in the gym as at band practice (the bass player especially seemed pretty proud of his, ahem, ‘guns’), Ida has a feisty charm and a voice that sits somewhere between Britpop’s twin totems of female fronted mid-tablers Echobelly and TheAudience.  And she wears a top hat. Which is cool. Single ‘Stella’ gets everyone singing and Xfm’s Koko event is in full swing… [JF]

18:45 Camden Loves Lucy

At Oh! Bar, Manchester miniature folkstrel Lucy & The Caterpillar [MySpace] is holding the attention of a sizeable crowd who’ve packed into the bar to see her perform her acoustic stories of love, loss, wine, bees, an owl called Olivia… Need we go on? She stands out from the current crop of female singer songwriters with her abstract take on life and now backed with fiddle, keyboards and drums courtesy of a selection of Manchester’s finest, her half hour set converts yet more to her cause.

Did we mention she was dressed a cat? And at no point does she reference this? Probably should have said that at the start. [JF]

19:20 Performance Of The Weekend So Far!

Let's get one thing straight from the start. This is the performance of the weekend. Koko is rammed and as Does It Offend You, Yeah? [MySpace] walk on stage at the criminally early 19:20 we get the first real mind-blowing set of the day.

Kicking off with 'Weird Science', singer Morgan ask, “Are you ready for the first drop of the evening?”. It transpires Koko is, indeed ready for that drop. And the next. And the next.

By the time DIOY,Y? leave the stage half an hour later following a blistering 'We Are Rockstars', Morgan has no shoes on, and Koko is covered in beer. [SS]

20:00 Shut Your Eyes...

A surprisingly subdued crowd greet Shut Your Eyes And You'll Burst Into Flames [MySpace]. Regardless, their Leeds guitar attack and lead singer Fran's Mars Volta-esque vocals still manages to impress. By a final 'Drop The Decade' the crowd seem convinced, there's a quick declaration of love for Pilau of Hadouken! who's lurking in the crowd and they're off, only stopping to send Xfm's John Kennedy some love.

Quality stuff. [SS]

20:30 “Danger! Danger! (Mouse)”

At the other end of Camden High Street (yes, we’re getting very fit this weekend. Aside from the drinking), Xfm’s John Kennedy is leading the charge for new music once again presenting X-posure at the Camden Crawl from The Barfly.

With a stunning line-up of hot new talent, John’s venue seems to be the place to go if you’re a world-straddling super-famous uber-producer. Which is exactly why Gnarls Barkley / Gorillaz producer Danger Mouse a.k.a Brian Turner is propping up the bar chatting to Andy from The Shortwave Set just moments after the latter finish a stunning, swirling set in the venue upstairs. Amazing! [JF]

21:15 Hey Lady...

Over at the Earl Of Camden the much hyped Ladyhawke [MySpace] is Stevie Nicks re-incarnate. Or she would be if Stevie Nicks were dead. In between looking like Stevie Nicks, sounding like Stevie Nicks and generally being as awesome as Stevie Nicks, there's people dancing on tables and to top it all off she has an amazing hat. The latest New Zealand export most certainly lives up to expectations... [LB]

22:00 I Predict A  Riot

At the Electric Ballroom, Jimmy Pursey's Sham 69 are causing something of a stir. Despite being in no way a new band, the legendary punk outfit are tonight bolstered by former members of Towers Of London and score huge points with an incredible cover of The Clash's 'White Riot'. [LB]

22:30 “You’re Like Crystal…” Castles

As tends to happen at the Crawl, as the queues build up you can spend a lot of time drunkenly dithering. After some time spent doing said dithering, we get to The Purple Turtle for one of the jewels in Artrocker magazine’s Crawl bookings, Crystal Castles [MySpace].

Sparse on lights, but heavy on beats, the venue’s rammed for the Canadian duo, and rightly so. Ethan Kath’s electronics pulse on the left hand side of the stage while Alice Glass spend most of the time pressing flesh with the front row as the dance/mosh/party/fall over (delete as appropriate) across the Turtle’s ample dancefloor.

It’s all becoming something of a blur but we think we make out the bleeps and beeps of ‘Crimewave’ spewing out of the speakers but by this time in depth thought is impossible and it’s time to dance. Hard. [JF]

Jon Ford, Sapna Sanghvi, Lliana Bird

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