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Fight Like Apes are set to play at the Crawl |
Yes, you shall go to the Crawl
THE CAMDEN CRAWL - APRIL 24TH/25TH
Confirmed acts
ON Monday, this year’s Gaymer’s Camden Crawl organisers sat around a table to decide which bands will play where.
While ticket-holders must wait for such details like the rest of us, it’s this exact process that makes the Crawl so special. Each year, a mix of rising stars and hot properties play at venues large and small across Camden, meaning you’re just as likely to see Amy Winehouse at the Dublin Castle as Keane at Koko.
And with the addition of the 3,000-capacity Roundhouse, is the promise of a stellar line-up. Grooves has also heard Steve Lamaq is hosting a special show at the Dublin Castle, broadcast live on 6 Music. The first names were announced last week with many more to come.
On the Saturday, 14 to 18-year-olds can join the X-Crawl. On a separate ticket, youngsters can see 25 bands across four venues, including St Michael’s Church’s very first live concert.
It may be one of the most unpredictable events in Camden’s packed music calendar, but for every fond memory, there’s a story about the queues.
Don’t despair. Lisa Paulon, the Crawl’s managing director, promised: “We’ve got plans for the queues. If you can’t beat it, join it. There’ll be gigs and magicians – the queues will be fun this year.”
Lisa explained why the full line-up isn’t announced before the tickets go on sale.
“We want people to come to the event as a whole rather than for a single act,” she said.
“When you have a big act like Amy Winehouse and you sell tickets to 5,000 people who want to see a big star and they end up playing the Dublin Castle, they end up being disappointed. They’re coming for the wrong reason because it’s really about new artists.”
The daytime programme has been extended, with poetry and book slams, and three comedy stages. Edinburgh Festival organisers have been brought in to offer their expert help.
Lisa said: “We’re planning this big Derren Brown-style magic thing over Camden.”
Last year, the Enterprise had an impromptu sit-down gig, when the ceiling started crumbling under the weight of Los Campesinos fans.
Any other standout memories, Lisa?
“In its history the Crawl’s only had one arrest – Pete Doherty outside the Electric Ballroom when Babyshambles played. It was after their MySpace secret gig at Studio 88 – they smashed up the equipment.”
This year, 1,700 bands applied for one of the 150 spots. A panel including Steve Lamaq, Rob Da Bank and Sean McLuskey help choose the final bands. But what makes it different from other festivals?
“The goodwill of the artists,” says Lisa. “All bands are treated equally – equally billed, paid the same, they eat in the same place and get the same riders. It creates a great atmosphere.”
She acknowledges that the price has gone up, but only in line with inflation, adding: “The aim is to promote great new music rather than be about big corporate business, £100 tickets and getting very little out of it. Look at similar gigs and you can easily spend £25/£30 on a ticket for a stand-alone gig and it’s over in a flash. It’s about having a memorable experience and in that way it’s unique.”
Soundcheck: Acts confirmed so far
The Author, The Baddies, The Barker Band, Bleech, BLK JKS, Brakes, The Chapman Family, Chew Lips, The Computers, The Cordelier Club, Dan Black, Danny & the Champions of the World, Datarock, The Dead Formats, Detropix, Drums of Death, An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, Fight Like Apes, Flashguns, Foy Vance, General Fiasco, Goldheart Assembly, Goldielocks, Heartbreak, Hexes, I Blame Coco,
It Hugs Back, James Yuill, The Jim Jones Review, Josh Weller, The Joy Formidable, Kasms, The King Blues, Lion Club, Little Death, Man Like Me, Marina and the Diamonds, Patrick Wolf, Peggy Sue, Pulled Apart by Horses, S.C.U.M., Skint & Demoralised, Sleepercurve, The Temper Trap, Threatmantics, Three Trapped Tigers, Toddla T, Tommy Sparks, The Von Bondies, VV Brown, The Whip, The XX. |
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