Camden Cue ....erm, Crawl..

DAY ONE
Camden Crawl-Epic!

Camden Cue from Kari Langslet on Vimeo.
Although much of the day was spent in a cue, altogether it was 13+ hours of musical shenanigans, and I'm about to leave in an hour and do it all over again. I will try to remember most of the bands I saw, or at least the ones that stood out, and write about them. Also, they interviewed me on MTV, and I did something REALLY ridiculous, so keep your eyes peeled. It will either be on MTV [UK] or MTV Two [May 15th?]. HAHAHA
I was really excited to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for the first time. I must say, the show turned into a pit real quick [as is evident by my jumbly clips]. I definitely got squished, shoved, jumped on by fat girls, pretty standard. Although the next girl I see wearing STILETTOS to a show, I'm going to pistol whip! I do not care if they're vintage or you're trying to pick up one of the million hipster babes [or other "alternative youth"], do NOT wear heels unless you plan on standing in the very back and don't plan on jumping around.I think a girl actually broke my toe.
The show was good, and there was lots of energy, but it was way too short and not enough old stuff was played.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs-Camden from Kari Langslet on Vimeo.
The show was rad, but super short; we're talking about 30-35 minutes here. And yes, I waited in line at MTV for a couple hours. Oh well.
Before the Yeah Yeah Yeahs went on, The Virgins opened the show. It sounded good, it was solid, yet nothing really stood out for me. Perhaps it's because I enjoy more intimate venues where the band and audience can connect; I don't know. Here's a quick clip;

The Virgins from Kari Langslet on Vimeo.

Another band that stood out was The Brute Chorus [myspace.com/thebrutecjorus]. They were simply fantastic; so much energy, crowd participation and passion. I LOVE seeing passion in a band. I enjoy when they love the music that they play. This was actually a really fun show that we just happened upon. Slightly rockabilly meets garage, these guys killed it. Seriously, check them out! Here's a quick clip;

Untitled from Kari Langslet on Vimeo.

While making our way from one venue to other, I heard loud music that sounded pretty good, so I decided to scrap my plans and follow my ears; that's when I saw a huge commotion in the street. A band that probably wasn't able to get a gig in the crawl decided to set up on the street and play. Great idea, excellent exposure, and a good band. They ended up attracting such a huge crowd and causing traffic, that about ten police officers came to shut them down. The band's name is Call Me Animal [myspace.com/cmanimal or facebook.com/pages/CALL-ME-ANIMAL/19808124981]. I also managed to get a quick clip of this band as well;

Call Me Animal from Kari Langslet on Vimeo.

CALL ME ANIMAL close up from Kari Langslet on Vimeo.

CALL ME ANIMAL-the police from Kari Langslet on Vimeo.

S.C.U.M. was another band we saw. All I have to say is interesting. I'm not sure whether I liked them or hated them, but regardless, you should check them out...maybe.

The Temper Trap--really good.


What was really funny was that trend spotters from fashion magazines kept stopping me to take photos of my outfit. One girl literally chased me down in a crowd of people as i was hurrying to get to the next venue.
What was I wearing? Literally a green t-shirt. Size large. AHAHAHAH
So watch out kids, the next big trend-LARGE GREEN TSHIRTS.

DAY TWO

I really had NO BATTERY left on my camera, so the video I took is short and lousy. Whatever.
We started off our day by going to the Gigwise Indie Idle Live Final. The day before ten semi-finalists had their singles played in front of judges, which we were there for, and let me tell you, the recordings did not do these bands justice! On this day, the three finalists that were picked played short sets in front of the judges and audience at Bar Vinyl. They all rocked my socks off!
First, Viva City played [myspace.com/vivacityuk]. They rock! This is indie electro at it's finest. Raw, fun, and unique; so many different facets to their sound....so many different parts, matched and mismatched come together to form an awesome sound. They are definitely a band you need to see live. Not to mention they are babes, even though my hair is way cooler than theirs [ha!]
I like their sound, I love their creativity of bringing so many different elements into the final product. Eccentric and quirky; these guys have spunk.

Viva City-short clip from Kari Langslet on Vimeo.
The second "group" to go was folkalist [hahaha, new word] Laura Hocking [http://www.myspace.com/laurahocking]and her guest vocal, and the cello player. This girl has a beautiful freaking voice and a witty cynical sense of humor. I was charmed, got out a few giggles, and genuinely enjoyed this music. At first when I had heard her single the day prior, I thought "pretty, but it sounds like the Weepies or pretty much any other folk band with a female vocalist." I was wrong. She had distinctly her own sound and lyrics. I'd want to hand out with this chick. You could tell she's a smart and talented girl. I've decided that she's Dirk's dream woman [sorry Dirk's girlfriend, but it's true. I hope you don't read that haha].

Laura Hocking clip from Kari Langslet on Vimeo.
And lastly, Milke went on. Not necessarily my cup of tea, because I'm not super into pop, but they were really good. I liked the vocalist's bow tie [ha]. The sound was very polished, poppy, and catchy. This band completely has it together, and they sound like they've already experienced recording multiple albums, performing on MTV, etc etc. I promise you folks, you soon will be hearing their songs on the radio and seeing these guys on TV. I also dug how the drummer, who I will refer to as "Bandit", blacked out his eyes and looked like he was wearing a Zoro mask. Props dude. I like that they don't necessarily look like a "pop" group. Way to not follow the stereotype! Oh, and the vocalist has a really nice voice, although I think he has to punch his nuts to get some of those high notes....
Milke won. I think it's because their music was polished, catchy, and sort of commercialized to the extent that whatever label works with them won't have to do much grooming, if anything, to get the finished product that they want. Although the first band was more of my type of music, and I definitely liked them the best, I loved that all the bands were completely different sounds and genres; Milke's hard work definitely paid off.
http://www.gigwise.com/photos/50622/Milke-Triumph-At-Gigwises-Indie-Idle-Live-Final

After that, we headed over to get wristbands for The View and Kasabian. We cued up for a good hour, then headed over to the Underworld to see a dirty, dirty hardcore punk band called The Computers.
This was probably hands down my favorite show of the weekend just because it was raw, dirty, full of energy and amazing. I can't say enough good things. Even people that didn't dig that genre of music were dancemoshing everywhere. I would see these guys a million more times, and was super bummed when their show was over. EPIC.

The Computers from Kari Langslet on Vimeo.
When the set was over, we went to the Black Cap yet again to see The XX. Really beautiful vocals, mellow sound, hip, I liked.
I really wanted to see Datarock before going to the Roundhouse, even though we'd be cutting it close with the cues and all. I high-tailed it to the Cuban Bar, and managed to see a good chunk of Datarock's set. They were really good, energetic, and fun. The place was PACKED, people waited in vain outside the venue, hoping to catch a bit of the show. I think they waited until the show was over! Alas, we had to run out of there to see The View/Kasabian show.

Datarock-Camden Crawl from Kari Langslet on Vimeo.
The View-really good. I dug the Scottish sounds, but not necessarily the crowd of obnoxious people next to me pouring cider on my head and singing drinking songs, hahaa. They were really good, definitly check them out.
Kasabian went on and seriously blew me alive. Life is good. The sound was amazing, the lights, the band....just everything was good. I can't say enough good words, so trust me; if you haven't heard of them, which you probably have, go buy their CD on iTunes. Really. Go. NOW! This show was top notch, and the crazy 40 year old drunkard in line behind me didn't lie when he said "this is the reason to come [to the Camden Crawl]. Best show you will see!" I have to say, as surprising as it was, I enjoyed Kasabian's[really long!] set more than the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I know, I know, who would have thunk it?
After Kasabian we went to see another band, but for the life of me, I can't remember who. We then headed to the Jazz cafe, where the DJ was playing all the annoying hits of my 6th/7th grade school years. I couldn't hand. We went to KoKo, which is my new favorite venue and place to be in Camden.
Still sticky and covered in cider, we saw Innerpartysystem [cool and different!] and V.E.G.A.S. Whores [interesting......] The DJs at Koko were pretty good too, and it was fun to dance into the wee hours!
All in all, Camden Crawl was definitely fun and worth the money. Almost every band I saw I liked, regardless of genre. If you would like to download a free compilation featuring artists from the Camden Crawl 2009, visit www.7digital.com/camdencrawl and copy and paste in download code 77JKFT34FG. If you want to check out videos of any of the bands listed above, or want to know what other bands played, check out http://www.mtv.co.uk/events/camden-crawl and http://www.gigwise.com.