Gig Of The Week – Camden Crawl
One of London’s biggest music festivals, the Camden Crawl, (certainly in terms of bands and venues) takes place on Friday and Saturday this week, capping an excellent week for gigs in the capital. Any other week would see PJ Harvey & John Parish’s pair of shows at Shepherd’s Bush Empire being top billing, and I’ll be there on Monday. There’s also the Ether festival continuing, with shows from Squarepusher and the reformed Spaceshipp (Spiritualized J Spaceman and Matthew Shipp) amongst the best of the week.
You could even argue that the Crawl has become a corporate shadow of the original spirit of the event, dominated as it is now by massive queues for the biggest bands and spread over two days. Gone are the days of being able to shoot between venues to catch umpteen bands in one night, you’ll have to hedge your bets and plump for one or two at best. On the plus side the festival now attracts names of the highest calibre. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs prequel their own nights at the Empire with an appearance in Camden – the rumour suggests Koko is the likely venue. Kasabian are suggested to be appearing at the Roundhouse. Amongst the myriad of other bands, you could catch the live return of Datarock, the continued slog of VV Brown, see Madness warm up for Madstock – the choice is yours.
Datarock – Give It Up (Fan Death RMX)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Dull Life
Photo: Daveknapik
Monday 20 April
Art Brut – Pure Groove Instore
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Southbank Centre
PJ Harvey & John Parish – Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Spaceshipp – Queen Elizabeth Hall (Ether ’09)
Zu – Borderline
Tuesday 21 April
Fennesz – Southbank Centre (Ether ’09)
John & Jehn – Rough Trade East Instore
Jeffrey Lewis – Pure Groove Instore
St Vincent – Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen
Wednesday 22 April
Dogs – 100 Club
Peter Doherty – Proud Galleries, Camden
Thursday 23 April
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead – Electric Ballroom
Art Brut – New Slang @ McCluskys
The Big Pink – ICA
British Sea Power – BFI Southbank (Ether ’09)
Camera Obscura – Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Elvis Costello – Barbican Centre
Phoenix – Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen
The Von Bondies – KCLSU
Friday 24 April
Camden Crawl – Various venues around Camden Town. Featuring: Billy Bragg, BLK JKS, Datarock, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Fall, Idlewild, Kasabian, Madness, Wire, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and a shedload more
Earth – Borderline
Golden Silvers – ICA
Gomez – Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Squarepusher – The Clore Ballroom (Ether ’09)
Saturday 25 April
Camden Crawl – See above
Bob Dylan – O2 Arena
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Sunday 26 April
65daysofstatic – Dingwalls
White, FM3 and more – Beijing Now! @ LSO St Luke’s
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone – The Luminaire
Bob Dylan – Roundhouse
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Shepherd’s Bush Empire
