Camden Town Leisure Piracy

Camden Crawl
April 24-25, Camden

Friday:
Art Brut
The Whip
Echo and the Bunnymen

Saturday:
Little Boots
The Maccabees
Frankmusik

I had very high hopes for the weekend of Camden Crawl. Loads of bands that I love, in venues that I love, in my favorite part of London. What could be better? Well, actually seeing those bands in the venues would have been a good start. The problem with Camden Crawl wasn't the lineup, or the bands themselves, but the organization. From moment one there were huge conflicts. Friday night: Yeah Yeah Yeahs and opener The Virgins in conflict with Art Brut and Echo and the Bunnymen. I ended up choosing Art Brut/Echo after seeing the massive queue for YYY's and realizing that we would entirely miss Virgins trying to get in.

Having waited in yet another massive queue to pick up our wristbands, we trekked across Camden to Koko and got in just as Art Brut started their set. Eddie Argos is the obvious star of the band, even though the drummer had a fabulous combination of handlebar mustache, madras shorts, and high socks. Plus he stood the whole time, which was an interesting tactic for drumming. Argos got into the set with a crowd invasion, and had fairly substantial chats with the audience between numbers. A high energy set that included new single Alcoholics Unanimous, The Passenger, DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshakes, Modern Art, Pump Up the Volume, (my personal favorite) Emily Kane and the surprise closer Formed a Band was a great way to kick off the evening. Impromptu lyric changes, particularly the clever switch-up of "stop stealing your albums from the internet" in Formed a Band,, were one of the best parts of the set. The other highlight was discovering that Argos really does talk like that all the time.

The space between Art Brut and the night's headliner was lesser known band The Whip. I went in with no real expectations about their music, and was in for an incredibly pleasant surprise. The Manchester four-piece has been a part of the festival scene for a few years, but their brand of electro/dance/rock isn't the sort of thing I normally go for. However, they were spot-on live and got the entire crowd dancing, an impressive feat in notoriously hard-to-impress Camden. Between the great music and the perfectly coordinated light show, I could have watched The Whip for a much longer set. They were by far my favorite band of the weekend, and one that you absolutely need to see live. Although their album is fantastic, the music just isn't the same when it's not heard in the midst of in a dancing crowd. Particular standouts from the set were the icy, angular Sister Siam and my personal favorite, Trash. Download it now.


The Whip

The crowd crammed in after The Whip for Echo and the Bunnymen, who felt almost underwhelming after the previous set. One of the great generation of dark synth indie that I adore, I had been looking forward to their gig for ages. Their music is the foundation for some of the stuff coming out of Britain now (my favorite of 2009, White Lies, included). While the new music that they're touring in support of is enjoyable, the obvious highlights of the set were their classic tracks. Lips Like Sugar, Bring on the Dancing Horses, The Cutter and, of course, The Killing Moon, were the night's most memorable moments. The tracks were well spaced in the set, and strong playing made it an enjoyable end to the evening.


Echo and the Bunnymen

Day two started off in hopes of avoiding the line issues of the day before by arriving earlier, but we were faced with similar struggles with organization. Headliner Kasabian was the only big draw for the night, and when we scored wristbands (after a protracted wait in a rather undifferentiated line) for the Roundhouse, we thought we were golden. However, we discovered that our wristbands were good only for the first half of the night (Little Boots and The Maccabees). While I'd already seen The View, missing Kasabian was a massive disappointment when we found out that wristbands for Kasabian could only be collected during the Maccabees set. Sigh.

Little Boots (actually the stage name of British songstress Victoria Hesketh), would have been entertaining if it weren't for the incredibly awful lack of balance between the bass and the rest of the music. We moved to the back of the Roundhouse after we noted that we could actually feel our internal organs vibrating independently. Unfortunate. Little Boots did some electronic stuff not entirely dissimilar to The Whip, with a much more disco edge. Highlights from the set included Stuck on Repeat and Mathematics. We spent the time in between acts using iPhone wiki to discover that the odd thing she used to create the beats for her songs was the Japanese 'instrument' tenori-on. The more you know...

The Maccabees emerged next, playing the kind of terrific up-tempo show that they produced at matter in February, minus the bone-crushing violence of the crowd. I'm completely in love with new singles No Kind Words and Love You Better,, particularly the amazing tempo change at the end of NKW. All the new tracks from Wall of Arms have the same kind of frenetic energy that Colour It In possesses, but the new complexity of their arrangements suggests a band that is maturing as they record. I especially enjoyed the title track and William Powers, and finally got my wish for a live version of Toothpaste Kisses, along with X-Ray, Precious Time, First Love, and Lego. Still, woefully, no sign of my favorite track Latchmere.

Afterward we spent some time wandering Camden and catching a few local acts before checking out the strange genre collision that is Frankmusik at Koko. Not really sure what was going on there. There was some beatboxing, some actually decent singing, the late appearance of a bass that led to much confusion, and an overall feeling of mediocrity that led us to leave about 5 songs into the set. Frankly...okay, I won't do a bad pun. A little more wandering let us catch some snippets of more local bands at the Monarch and Hawley Arms, home of one of my favorite obscure bands, The Brute Chorus.

The verdict for the weekend? Great crowds-- a terrific representation of what the London music scene is about. An interesting mix of people (okay, heavily biased toward hipsters, but still much more diverse than anything you'd see in America). Definite respect for classic and new bands alike. Fabulous acts, appalling organization. The Whip was a fantastic surprise, The Maccabees and Art Brut delivered, and Echo was a fun, nostalgic set. Little Boots dislodged my spleen but taught me what a tenori-on is. Phew. The end.

Pipedown

Peter Doherty
Proud, Camden, April 22

I went into my second Doherty Experience with a certain amount of trepidation, given our previous encounter (see: Peter Doherty and the Angry Manager). I was happy to hear that this gig was at Proud, which has the advantage of not being a cave with a fence in front of the stage. Plus the new, improved 'Peter' Doherty, touring in support of Grace/Wastelands, is supposed to be much more professional than his previous incarnations in The Libertines and Babyshambles.

Paddy (possibly the only person I have ever encountered who is as rabid a Libs fan as me) seemed certain that Pete would be on after the ONE (and ONLY! THE ONLY ONE!) opener (I believe they were called The Youves) who were forgettable but inoffensive. I had more doubts, having experienced the carnage that was Daddy and the Good Girls, but Pete in fact arrived by 10:45. I'm currently in the process of nominating this to the church as a miracle. Unlike the last impromptu Babyshambles gig, this set was just Pete and an acoustic guitar for most songs, and very enjoyable. He was also looking quite dapper and healthy, a nice surprise. He kicked off with What a Waster, starting a trend of Libertines songs that continued through the evening.


Pete considers becoming Amish

Set:
What a Waster
The Good Old Days
Arcady
Lady Don't Fall Backward
Delivery
Time for Heroes
Don't Look Back into the Sun
Music When the Lights Go Out
Albion
Last of the English Roses
Merry Go Round
Death on the Stairs
The Ha Ha Wall
For Lovers
1939 Returning

The mix of old and new was nice, although I particularly enjoyed hearing a few more Libertines tracks. When you see Pete alone, the appearance of songs like Music When the Lights Go Out and Radio America in the generally more punk oeuvre of The Libs is clarified. Although Carl is generally acknowledged as the better musician, Pete has a touch for lyrics and emotion that Carl's rock tendencies usually blunt (exceptions like Holly Golightly notwithstanding). For Lovers was fantastic live, as were the new Grace/Wastelands tracks, particularly Last of the English Roses and Arcady. Albion was a favorite, as always, and The Good Old Days (modified in the same way that it appears on Oh, What a Lovely Tour!) was also terrific, although much shorter than the original track.

Former Blur member Graham Coxon made up the "and guests" part of the bill, along with the two random ballerinas that have been appearing on stage during this tour. Coxon's appearance was brief, mostly just to provide some guitar support on Time for Heroes (still not the same without Carl).


Graham Coxon

The nicest surprise of the evening was old b-side The Ha Ha Wall,, and its appearance proved a point about Pete fans. Everyone in the crowd knew every word, something that was true of nearly all the tracks over the course of the evening. I've seen a lot of bands this spring who have new albums, and fans often stand around, looking a little blank, when they play new material live. Overall, Pete's fans knew even his new tracks. This is clearly helped by the fact that a number of them aren't strictly 'new'; his notorious habit of releasing demos for free online made songs like Last of the English Roses old favorites before they appeared on Grace/Wastelands.

The juxtaposition of the two gigs shows exactly why Pete is such a controversial figure; sometimes he infuriates you with his ridiculous antics, other times he is incredibly charismatic, likable, and talented. At least in the UK, his new album and more 'professional' tour seem to be winning him back some respect as an artist. I'm hoping it's a trend that continues.

East London Is a Vampire

Bloc Party, Foals
Olympia, London, April 12

Headed out to the boondocks of southwest London tonight to see Bloc Party in the surprisingly giant and bright Olympia Hall. The venue was also surprisingly crowded by the time we got there; Val and I had been expecting a much smaller show, and one with less rabid fans, since most London gigs don't seem to attract crowds very early. This kind of enthusiasm should have been a sign of things to come, as should have the large number of neon-clad, underage hipsters, but we were happily oblivious.

First opener Wet Paint played the sort of generic, up-tempo rock that openers seem to favor. Not exactly bland, but monotonous enough to understand why they aren't headlining shows themselves. This combined with the lead singer's tendency to be painfully off-key made me quite happy when they kept their set short and made way for second support act Foals, who were much better and received a very warm welcome. Their sharp, angular songs were a good complement to Bloc Party, and their instrumental opener was especially remarkable. Tracks like Cassius and French Open were spot-on, and rivaled Bloc Party's set for quality. It was one of the few times when I would have actually enjoyed a longer set from an opener.


Foals

We knew things were going to go downhill when people started getting pulled out of the crowd two songs into Foals. When you can't survive the opening acts, the concert is going to be intense. (See Doherty, Peter. Rhythm Factory Disaster of '09.) The crowd was already pushing when they came on stage, and opener Halo kicked off a sort of flailing/moshing that continued for the entire gig.

Set List:
Halo
Hunting for Witches
Positive Tension
Talons
Signs
Song for Clay (Disappear Here)
Banquet
Blue Light
Uniform
Two More Years
Mercury
This Modern Love
The Prayer
Like Eating Glass
Helicopter
One Month Off
Price of Gasoline
Ares
Flux

The only breaks in the set were slower tracks Signs and Blue Light, while the rest was really energetic, in part because Kele egged the crowd on the entire time, even returning for the encore in a bunny suit (for Easter). Sound quality and playing were largely good, although a couple of songs suffered from being just a little louder than they needed to be (especially The Prayer and Ares). Mercury was one of the best parts of the set; it's one of my least favorite tracks on the album but live it's frenetic and dramatic and massive


Kele jumpstarts a new fashion trend


Other highlights included the genius transition between Song for Clay and Banquet, straight through from the drums of one into the other, and set closer Flux, which rivals Mercury as the most dramatic song of the nigh with its swooping laser show. It was the perfect end to the gig and left me wanting more even though I was incredibly tired of being stepped on/elbowed/touched by people who were disgustingly sweaty.

Bloc Party is definitely a London band and their music, with its constant references to Bethnal Green and Bishopsgate, really plays to the London crowd. Song for Clay is a particular favorite, with the crowd completely drowning out the band during the pivotal line ("East London is a vampire..."). This gig proved for me more than the rest that there's something really special about the connection between people in England and music. The percentage of people in crowds who know almost every word to every song is remarkable.



The only problem with Bloc Party is that they have so many good songs that some great ones have to be omitted. I was especially sad that they skipped Ion Square, particularly since they played it Saturday night, and On, Kreuzberg, or Waiting for the 7:18 would have been nice additions from the slightly underrepresented Weekend in the City. However, they did play a long and excellent set, so no real complaints.

The verdict? Bloc Party, spectacular. Foals, a very pleasant surprise. Wet Paint...the paint drying jokes write themselves.

Romance at Short Notice

Dirty Pretty Things
Proud, Camden, April 6

Former DPT members Anthony and Didz kicked off their new club night Younger Than Yesterday with a surprise reunion from DPT itself, followed by a DJ set from Jamie Klaxons (and a random appearance in the crowd from Harry McVeigh of White Lies). Liz and I had some initial skepticism about the evening, when we entered to the sounds of a rather strange mix of 80s and earlier kitsch that suggested questionable things to come. However, I astutely recognized Carl Barat from a side view of his hairstyle and the fact that he was virtually my height. A passing hipster helpfully asked us if DPT had played yet, so we knew to hang around and have some overpriced and low quality drinks (seriously Proud, who stocks your bar?)



The wait was quite short, and DPT appeared to do a (very, very, incredibly) short set. In true DPT style, it was a fairly ramshackle occasion. Gary had approximately 1/8 of a drum kit, Carl's guitar had some sort of malfunction, there were the prerequisite forgotten lyrics, and some really extensive conversations between Carl and Anthony (presumably deciding what song to play next?). However, the band seemed to be having fun on stage together again, which was great to see after their disappointing experience recording their second album, and subsequent breakup. Apparently the breakup was as amicable as they claimed, since they got together again in a shorter time than most bands take between tours.



The super-short set opened with Deadwood, followed by Gin & Milk, Bang Bang You're Dead, and BURMA. DPT seems to think that it's best to play their songs at the maximum possible speed, which makes things feel a bit frantic but also gives them more energy than the album versions. I would have liked to hear a track or two from Romance, but it was also great that they played old favorites. I was particuarly (and pleasantly) surprised to hear BURMA, which doesn't appear on the American release of Waterloo to Anywhere.


Didz

After the show the rest of the band disappeared, but Carl hung about the side of the stage and took pictures with people. Woe betide, my camera was dead so I took one on my phone and it's just a dark blob, but I know the truth. He mumbled at me apologetically and smiled. Well nice.