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Los Campesinos |
Crawl comes close to bringing the house down
REVIEW CAMDEN CRAWL
Various venues
FLOORS cracking, false rumours, and queues – the annual Camden Crawl returned last weekend to a mixed reception.
The two-day festival, held over the weekend for the first time, attracted the usual complaints. Too many queues, timetable clashes, not enough big names and accusations that it was badly organised.
Even venue owners were disappointed with the line-up apparently and complained that moving the festival to the weekend didn’t bring any extra business. But for those who squeezed into their chosen venues it was a different story.
Boasting 130 bands across 25 venues, this year’s Crawl established itself as the festival for musos, offering the best of the lesser-known bands.
And because there was a lack of obvious headliners, it gave the newcomers more of a chance to shine. This year the praise was all for Ida Maria, the Wave Pictures, Noah & the Whale and Nic Dawson Kelly.
However, things got off to a slow start on Friday when the queue for power-folk band Florence and the Machine at the Crescent was static just minutes after they began. And when plaster started falling from the ceiling at the Enterprise during a Los Campesinos gig – landing on the punters below – staff realised the sheer weight of the crowd could cause a cave-in.
The performance had to be stopped and fans were asked to sit down, although the situation failed to stop one spirited fella crowd-surfing over the audience.
Meanwhile, over
the road at the Roundhouse, Americana revivalists Noah & the Whale gave a more cultured show.
On Saturday rumours of an appearance by
Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner’s new band The Last Shadow Puppets – later proving to be seriously wrong – caused a massive buzz around the Dublin Castle.
But the waves of fans were left disappointed when Pull Tiger Tail strolled on stage.
Understandably the four-piece, though competent, gave an underwhelming performance.
Other acts on the bill fared better. Nic Dawson Kelly, a strange, overgrown schoolboy, was magnificent, while Space princess Rosie Oddie added a touch of sparkle.
Over at Dingwalls, Babyshambles’ Drew McConnell stepped in to lead the Jing Jang Jong after Joe Lean had to cancel due to illness.
The festival ended with Future of the Left playing an unofficial house party in Camden Road – now that’s the spirit!
ROISIN GADELRAB
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