Rock and Pop: CAMDEN CRAWL 2010 - Another triumphant, if Soggy crawl
Published: 6 May 2010
by ROISIN GADELRAB
RIVERS of black eyeliner streamed down Camden High Street as buckets of torrential rain threatened to wash away thousands of Camden Crawlers this weekend.
Unlucky for the ballet pump-clad crawlers queuing all the way to Morrisons car park waiting to swap their tickets for wristbands, Saturday was a warm washout.
Sunday was dry but infinitely chillier, the miserable kind that takes hold of your bones, amounting to equal stints of sprinting between venues and subsequent reluctance to move on to the next.
An impromptu rave by collective Red Pill London, which sprung up under a small-time gazebo, ended abruptly when police swooped in and collared DJ “The Brain” – for “inciting a riot”. We were there, it wasn't a riot.
LostProphets later leapt to his defence – see footage at www.youtube.com/RedPillLondon.
The few secret gigs were mostly tucked safely away from the real people in the VIP bar at Lock 17. Rumours of Johnny Depp joining Babybird and Mick Jones with Roots Manuva fell flat, but how important are the clandestine ones when there's already a packed timetable?
There were a few disappointments as Villagers, Joe Gideon and the Shark and others were unable to play, and creative crises as we were forced to choose between headliners. Delays and The Drums, previous Grooves picks, were casualties of scheduling only a time-machine could solve.
Yet there were big gaps in the evenings, where a bunch of gigs would end with nothing scheduled for 45 minutes - staggering welcome next year.
Aside from these minor strategic issues, we found plenty of raw talent to keep us entertained.
Another triumphant, if soggy Camden Crawl.