Camden Crawl

Although no longer the epicentre of London's hipster scene - the rise of Shoreditch and Dalston in the east part of the city has seen to that - Camden still holds a degree of sentimentality to those with a soft spot for Cool Britannia. It's perhaps fitting, then, that one of the curators at this year's Camden Crawl is Steve Lamacq, a man who epitomises the scene and cultural aesthetics of Camden's first wave of popularity. Now in its 11th year, the Crawl may have been superseded by other multi-venue events such as Brighton's Great Escape and Liverpool's Sound City in recent years but it still holds a special place in the hearts of old romantics such as yours truly. Regular visitors will have noticed that it has now become the Camden/Kentish Town Crawl although that could quite easily be replaced by the word "Queue", as some of the smaller venues prove a tad challenging to access. Still, there's a selection of musical highlights to keep even the most cynical observer entertained and despite numerous minor setbacks, here's the best of what Contactmusic saw over the course of the May Bank Holiday weekend.

Continue reading: Camden Crawl, 2012 Live Review

Like pre-season friendlies that herald the start of a new football season, the Camden Crawl's status as the ultimate precursor to a long summer's festival activities remains pretty much unblemished. As with an expensive new signing or youthful protégé about to make the step up from the ressies, the Crawl has regularly given punters their first glimpse of artists that have gone on to represent an entire season's worth of entertainment and beyond, highlights in recent years including the likes of The xx, Adele, Gaggle and The Big Pink.

Continue reading: Camden Crawl, Saturday 30th April & Sunday 1st May 2011 Live Review

Unofficially viewed as the UK's first major music festival of the year, the Camden Crawl has spawned many offshoots around the country such as Dot To Dot and The Great Escape where the simple concept of squeezing as many artists in as many venues as possible over a weekend remains the most singular objective. Now in its fifteenth year, the Crawl has come in for its fair share of criticism over the years, mainly due to overselling tickets particularly considering the size of some of the venues, ultimately resulting in ridiculously long queues sometimes stretching all the way from the Roundhouse down to Camden underground station.

Continue reading: Camden Crawl, Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd May 2010 Live Review

As London's long-established homelier cousin of Texas A&R shindig South By Southwest, The Camden Crawl is the musical equivalent of Good Friday; the first long-awaited Bank Holiday weekend of the year only with the added bonus of a feast of musical delights, not to mention a change in climate too. Its also one of those events that, due to its location, often brings with it any number of unannounced shows in the tiniest venues imaginable, not to mention guest appearances from those you'd least expect.

Continue reading: Camden Crawl, Friday 24th & Saturday 25th April 2009 Live Review