The Camden Crawl

With all the rain we’ve been having in London recently, you could easily be forgiven for expressing surprise that the summer music festival season has only just got started! In fact, during my time at The Camden Crawl, it barely rained at all. Luckily, it’s a little cracker of a weekend, and there was plenty to make up for the ominous lack of a drenching.

Taking place across a load of bars, gig venues and a few other choice locations around Camden, The Crawl is an annual institution of booze, music, some more booze and a little bit of comedy. The atmosphere in the area is incredible. Many of the bands are small, and many of the big venues don’t open till evening so during the daytime the crowd tends to spread out across all the venues in search of music.

The daytime highlights this year included The Camden Gardens, an outdoor stage nestled underneath a railway bridge, with sets from bands such as Corby rockers Acoda, and the deliciously funky BIGkids. For those more inclined to avoid the non-existent rain, there was plenty of live music indoors during the day too. I opted for a quick stop at ‘The Flowerpot Collective’ at the Wheelbarrow, to catch Loverproof, a soulful three-piece band led by a Winehouse inspired singer who provided a great soundtrack for the early bird crowd.

Most of the comedy on Saturday was limited to the daytime, including ‘Crack Comedy’ at The Camden Rock. I caught a few acts here, including Jigsaw, a sketch show of amusing awkwardness. The highlight though, was Steve N Allen, who performed with what he claimed was the hangover to stop anyone from drinking again (an optimistic mission statement at The Camden Crawl). Despite the physical impediment, he had the room falling apart with filthy ponderings from his mind and entertained throughout.

After an afternoon of manic dashing about, the Roundhouse Terrace & Bar was the perfect place to relax ahead of the night’s music. A quick succession of lovely folky sets played out during my attendance. Sam Lee played to a sat-down-knees-crossed audience in the bar, before Melodica, Melody & Me, and finally We Were Evergreen performed outdoors to an enthusiastic crowd in the sun (that’s right – it still wasn’t raining).

After a slow set from Keep Shelly in Athens at the Barfly, it was time to ramp things up for the evening. The Cuban, located in the middle of Camden market, had an incredible vibe, with the crowd going ballistic for The Milk, a slick rock band focused solely on getting everyone dancing. In fact, the atmosphere in The Cuban was so addictive it almost derailed my plans to move on. Luckily (for me) the power to the stage was suddenly cut, and I quickly jumped on this opportunity to move on, knowing full well the party wouldn’t stop just because of a few technical difficulties.

The remainder of the day was centered in the biggest venue on The Crawl – Koko. The Big Pink played an epic set before the headliners of the day took to the stage. The Futureheads made an incredibly brave decision to stick to their acoustic/a cappella touring set-up in front of what must be the drunkest crowd they’ll perform to this year. Featuring harmonic melodies, a cello and what they described as ‘Sunderland Bluegrass’, the set was light on familiar tunes, but heavy on innovation. Always at their best when taking a risk, the set was ultimately a success, and provided a fitting end to a day best summed up as one of surprises. Not least of which was the lack of rain.

The Camden Crawl took place on May 4 to 6 at various venues throughout Camden.