FORGET the green Guinness for a minute – there are more important considerations on St Patrick’s Day.
Apart from honouring the man who drove the snakes out of Ireland, there’s the important business of finding the best live rowdy Irish band to properly mark the night.
So who better than London Irish “psycho-Ceilidh” punks Neck, led by a former member of Shane MacGowan’s Popes, who have already got themselves a worldwide reputation for their rocking ways.
So if you’re anywhere near Tufnell Park head down to The Boston Arms, Junction Road, on Thursday (March 17), where Neck, Calico Street Riots and The Muleskinners will be filling the void for those unable to make the parade this year.
BY NOW you're probably just about ready to contemplate New Year’s Eve's social minefield.
Here's my ultimate list of parties across Camden, Islington and Westminster.
Burlesque, fancy dress and circus prevails, what’s the plan next year?
FOR THE MYSTERIOUS The Eve of Tomorrow (Boom Boom Club + White Mischief), secret location (Russell Square tube), 8pm-5am, £45.99
Inspired by 1930s World Fairs and industrial obsession, a large scale production, with theatre, cabaret, circus, electro swing, vintage jazz, rock ‘n roll, and more – my personal fave. Dress – ‘30s glam, grand evening wear, aristocrats, socialites and industrialists.
INDIE KIDS The Flowerpot presents Foals + Trophy Wife + Chad Valley, HMV Forum (Kentish Town tube), 8pm, sold out
The Flowerpot promised one helluva NY Party –Foals, great acts and DJs. Camden’s in-crowd were on to it months ago but there’s always the chance of doorstep spares sales. AND The Wheelbarrow, Camden High Street has just announced it has 100 tickets left to sell, must buy from the bar.
Club NME Ball, British Sea Power + Joe & Will Ask + Fiction, Koko (Mornington Crescent tube), 9pm, £32
Koko knows how to throw a proper rock party – in stunning theatre surrounds.
SHAMELESS NOSTALGICS
Ultimate Power, Scala (Kings Cross tube), 9pm – 6am, £20adv
Nine hours of power ballads – Meatloaf, Phil Collins, Queen – sing your heart out.
Naughty Forties NY Party, The Old Queen’s Head (Angel tube), 8pm-4am, £20
Tweed, corsets and wartime waves.
NEW YOIKERS To the 5 Boroughs NYE Party ft Man Like Me (full live band) + Mouthwash, Barfly Camden (Chalk Farm tube), 8pm, early bird £15
New York theme – trip from CBGBs to Brooklyn loft to the Bronx and dress accordingly – 50s gangsters, 60s beatniks, 70s punks and 80s sportswear.
DEPRESSIVES Feeling Gloomy vs Club de Fromage, 02 Academy Islington (Angel tube), 9pm-4am, £20
Wallow in misery with Feeling Gloomy’s morose tunes then clamber from the depths of despair to Club de Fromage’s cheesy hits.
AIRHEADS AND PIRATES Barbie Girls and Salty Sea Dogs ft Diaphragm Failure + Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons + Spacewasters, The Dublin Castle (Camden Town tube), 7.45pm-2am, £10 on door, £5 adv, or free before 9pm for fancy dress
Truly eccentric, dress as your favourite plastic doll or try out the Jack Sparrow look.
MOVIE BUFFS Soundtracks, The Monarch (Chalk Farm Road), 8pm, £10
Blockbuster hits from fave movies, Dirty Dancing, Pulp Fiction, The Breakfast Club etc. Dress as your movie idol.
WARBLERS Live band Karaoke, The Enterprise (Chalk Farm tube), 7pm-3am, £5
Feel what it’s like to front your own band – karaoke classics and new hits.
THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE Proud Camden’s NYE Burlesque Ball, Proud Camden (Chalk Farm tube), 7.30pm – 4am, general ticket £30
Proud attracts cool kids, aloof waifs, geek chic boys, and voluptuous burlesque beauties but there’s room for everyone, the music never fails and it’s always full of surprises. Captain Dangerous + The TV Night Jam Band live + burlesque shows.
CHEESY (AND SLIGHTLY TOWNY WE FEAR) Shake NYE, 70s, 80s, 90s disco +dance party anthems, Electric Ballroom (Camden Town tube), £30adv, 9pm-4am
Rarely a good sign when a Camden Town venue feels the need to warn no trainers or sportswear. But this could be a fun cheesy night out in a big enough venue to avoid inevitable NY suffocation. Or it could be just like a night at The Ritzy.
SOUL, FUNK AND DANCE LOVERS DJ Joey Negro and The Sunburst Band, Jazz Cafe (Camden Town tube), 7pm, £40 adv
Jazz Cafe’s marathon session with DJ Joey Negro brings a dash of sunshine with The Sunburst Band’s take on modern soul. Acoustic support from laid back Nathan Watson.
CARNIVAL TYPES Good Times ft Norman Jay + Gilles Peterson + Ladybugz + Crate Diggers, Relentless Garage (Highbury & Islington tube), £30
Bringing Notting Hill vibes to Islington.
THE FANTASTICAL Proud @ Matter – Cirque ft Shaun Ryder, DJ Yoda and The Maccabees (DJ set), 02 Arena, 7.30pm-6am, £20 adv
Yes it’s a trek but Proud has put on buses for those brave enough to venture that far east. Think 1950s Vegas, circus and burlesque and dress accordingly.
Cirque de la Nuit, The Winchester (Angel tube), 7pm-4am, £25/£15 adv
Shape shifting cage fighters, clowns, and guest DJs.
FOR THE MTV GENERATION BLOGGER’S Delight presents Video Kills the Radio Star, The Lock Tavern (Chalk Farm tube), 8pm-4am, £10 adv/with regular's card or £15
DJs – Casper C, Skull Juice, Stopmakingme, Arveene, The Beeny Royston Experience, Gino Silano, Miss Odd Kidd, NikNikNik –disco, house and party faves upstairs, pop pop pop downstairs, get nostalgic, think 1984 MTV launch, Michael Jackson, Madonna and dance your way through to the end of the noughties. Come as your favourite tribute to the art of the music video – shouldn’t be too hard to find the garb across the road at Camden market.
DIE-HARD GLAM PUNKS RACHEL Stamp + Conspirators + Spiderbaby + Et Tu Bruce + Deeds of the Nameless + Otherness, Monto Water Rats (King’s Cross tube), 6pm, £13
Glam punks Rachel Stamp rarely get together to play live anymore so witness this one-off show, grab a free signed copy of their latest album (first 50 arrivals), get your eyeliner on and dress the part for what promises to be a raucous party.
GARAGE DUBSTEP AND HIP-HOP REGGAE Roast with EL-B & MC Rolla, Channel One, Daddy Skitz, Moodie, Excel + more, The Big Chill House, (Kings Cross tube), 9pm-5am, £15 earlybird/£20 adv
Reggae Roast’s first ever NYE party, Room one – UK Garage/dubstep pioneer EL-B ft MC Roll and Channel One Sound System with Rastafarian chants from Mikey Dread, Room II - UK Hip Hop legend Daddy Skitz party blend of Hip Hop, Drum and Bass, Dancehall and Reggae.
FOR THE MAD HATTERS SAM and The Womp's NYE Hat Party with Sam and The Womp live, Senor Migan, DJ Cous Cous, Aaron Audio, Bobby Gandolf, Camino, (Kings Cross tube), 9pm-4am, £15earlybird, £20 adv, £60 restaurant ticket
High-energy Balkan, ska, dub, Latin and gypsy-dubstep with Sam’s six-piece band The Whompers, wear your most extravagant hat – prizes for best.
FOR THE CROONERS Mitch Winehouse, The Pigalle Club (Picadilly Circus), 7pm-late, dinner, admission and champagne – £95, non-dining guests – £25
Crooner/cabbie/celeb dad Mitch Winehouse hosts a classy evening of jazz and swing – Amy’s been known to join him onstage but we hear she may be in Moscow.
COOL AND CASH-STRAPPED The Wheelbarrow (Mornington Crescent tube), open till late, free
Top tunes, nice faces and an extended late licence – and you don’t have to pay a penny to get in.
YOU know her face (or maybe not, if you're over 18).
She's the one who turned from the innocent little J to the bad girl hairband-wearing queen of mean in Gossip Girl.
She's the barely out-of-school face of Madonna and daughter Lourdes' new fashion range. But right now, she's the heavily made-up rock star that fronts The Pretty Reckless.
Taylor Momsen, who plays a one-off show at the 02 Academy Islington next week (Thursday, Aug 19) has accomplished a huge amount during her short 17 year years on this earth – and happily divided opinion amongst critics.
(No official video, this odd clip dubs the album recording over the live performance)
Right now, her eyeshadow is so black and limbs so spindly that The Corpse Bride would be jealous, while her hair's that trashy blonde that draws comparisons to the other, older dame of grunge Courtney Love.
But although her gruff vocals and moody attitude ring truly familiar, Momsen's having none of it.
She's carving out a reputation of her own and distancing herself from hints that she's anything like Love.
And this could well be true. Momsen claims to have been writing songs since she was five years old, and has been acting since the age of three, later going on to performing arts school. Love was into her 20s before entering the entertainment world – as Nancy Spungen in biopic Sid and Nancy, and only formed Hole at the age of 25.
Perhaps it's all that arts school training, but Momsen doesn't look the least bit uncomfortable squeezed between her unlikely band of relatively older, darker, hairier men during sofa interviews – that's bassist Mark Damon, percussionist Jamie Perkins and guitarist Ben Phillips, who co-writes songs with Momsen.
Aside from playing this year's V festival, the band's Islington appearance is their only scheduled show on these shores this month.
And while this talk of child actors and arts school probably jars with the grunge image, it's worth trying to forget this while listening to the music for the first time.
Album track My Medicine reveals the depth of soul that lies behind the cloud of celebrity obscuring the young musician's genuine talent, while Make Me Wanna Die is the teenage angst theme of the Gossip Girl generation.
So, if the following quote coming from the mouth of a 17-year-old is hard to swallow, then try to forget it when listening to the songs.
Here's Momsen's description of her debut album as an honest chronicle of her experiences: “The record is about life. It covers everything: love, death and music itself. It’s rock and roll. It’s sex. It’s drugs. It’s religion. It’s politics. Each song tells a story about the trials and tribulations and emotional struggles that I’ve experienced or observed. It’s not a happy pop record, but it’s not Satan-worshiping either. The lyrics aren’t meant to be taken literally, they are open to interpretation.”
It'll be good to judge them on their merit when they reach Islington next week.
• Light Me Up, the debut album from The Pretty Reckless, is released on August 30 and single Miss Nothing comes out on August 23.
I KNOW Taylor Momsen’s moody teenage act fronting The Pretty Reckless is a bit much for some, but I’m hoping to judge for myself when she plays 02 Academy Islington next week (August 19). I like what I’ve heard so far. Plus, she’s the only person I know who wears more eyeshadow than me.
• Congratulations Eddie Six Strings, the first-ever female winner of the UK Air Guitar World Championships at Islington Academy on Friday. A close inspection of the rules reveals air roadies are allowed. Are there air amps to carry?
• Is it the season for Mod sentimentality? We already know about The Who’s convention at Dingwalls (October 3) but it seems the scooter brigade will be stopping off at Relentless Garage (August 15) for the Small Faces convention – billed as seven hours of 100 per cent Small Faces “Mod paradise”. As well as the usual collectable merchandise, there are six bands, some very special guests and screenings of rare footage.
• Here’s a nice touch. Foals are playing a special MTV Presents show for 14 to 18-year-olds at Dingwalls (August 25) – shame I’m a teenage lifetime away from being let in.
• I wonder how many twitter followers Carl Barat had before promising to announce a reunion date “for a little London four-piece” (hint – The Libertines) at HMV Forum on August 25 on his account this week. When I last checked, he had 2,637.
• On Tuesday, Alice Cooper hosted the scariest talent contest at London Dungeon, where he selected the great est sideshows and freaks. But why? So he can scare the hell out of ticketholders heading to his Halloween Night of Fear at Camden Roundhouse (October 31, November 1).
LISTENING to Chuck Ragan describe his idyllic rural life – early mornings, gardening and DIY – you wouldn’t guess he’s the frontman of one of America’s leading punk bands.
Ragan, whose band Hot Water Music has recently reformed, is up well before 8am, landscaping the gardens of the cosy home he shares with his wife in the small goldmine town of Grass Valley, California.
(Hot Water Music - Chuck Ragan second from left)
At one time, Hot Water Music were blazing the way for punk fans in the States, but they spent too much time together, went a bit stir crazy and split for a while.
Ragan has since carved out his own solo career, and has been recording with Brian Fallon from The Gaslight Anthem and touring with Frank Turner.
But now the pressure’s off and the boys are missing each other, Hot Water Music’s back together and ready to tour the hell outta the UK.
They’re coming to the 02 Academy Islington on June 21 and by the sounds of it, they’re relishing every second.
Ragan said: “We’ve been having a blast. We don’t have the pressure we used to. For the longest time we made a massive amount of sacrifices. We came to a point where we decided are we going to do this for real and make a living out of it or keep bouncing back and forth? We were touring so much that we weren’t able to hold down any decent job. We had quite a few years where we were coming back homeless or something wasn’t right. We decided to go for it but by doing that we immediately found ourselves with all these pressures. They can really add up and it was just massive. If you don’t keep a handle on it and diversion in your life anything can become old and stagnant.”
He added: “I enjoy touring but it tends to make a person soft. You don’t eat well, sleep well and come back a little twisted. Now we’re free agents and all of us have our own thing going on and it’s complete and utter fun now we’re not worrying about record deadlines. It feels like it did in the beginning. Other than some injuries we feel like we’re 18 again.”
He believes there’s still room for punk in the music scene: “Punk will always be relevant but always ever-changing. What it is today isn’t what it was I was a kid.
Punk was always an underground scene and ethic. The beauty of underground music is that it’s always going to be there in one form or another. Even though the music styles may change, a lot of the ethics and ideals seem to stay and continue to resonate.”
In between tours it’s home life that keeps him sane: “As of lately we’ve been so busy on the road that when we’re home we just shut out the rest of the world. We’ve been landscaping. I’ve been digging, building, planting grass and moving stone. It feels good. I’m a worker.”
And now he’s got to go clean up – the in-laws are coming later and even a punk rock legend has to be presentable.
SUNDAY Times columnist India Knight has a dilemma – she’s coming to the Camden Crawl but refuses to attend the “gittish” gigs her sons like. Tough call. Any suggestions? Plan B and Pendulum have just been announced as the final headliners - should be just enough to push the last of the ticket sales. The Emerging Talent Awards-winners have also now been announced. Best Song went to Shiv Lizzy – a bittersweet triumph, and fitting tribute to the talented musician who died recently. Winners’ details and the Crawl’s Hawley Crescent outdoor stage line-up at www.thecamdencrawl.com
•l Hip hop legend Nas and Damian Marley (youngest son of Bob) bring their Distant Relatives tour to the Electric Ballroom (April 21). Tickets are extremely limited. Promoters promise it’s “the most intimate performance anyone will get of these two iconic musicians”. For once the hype may be true.
• Hip hop duo Gianni and Viper’s new single, Boom Boom, is out next week, and album out next month. Catch them this weekend at the opening of West Hampstead’s milkshake bar Shaketastic.
• Folky cellist Laura Victoria launched her debut EP at the Green Note on Tuesday – by all accounts it was a summery success.
• Wolf People play a charity gig for Refuge at the 02 Academy Islington (April 22). Also playing are 50ft Woman, Velvetines and Patrick is Silvercub.
I’VE recently discovered our favourite misery night Feeling Gloomy at the 02 Academy Islington has succeeded in spreading its depression across the Atlantic – they’ve taken up a monthly residency in Fontana's New York – good for them. And the gloom peddlers have also taken an ad out in The Big Issue, just to remind people to save BBC 6 Music from closure – they're not all about the bad stuff.
- On the same note, hundreds of protesters, musicians and DJs turned out at the weekend demo outside the BBC's Broadcasting House against the proposed closure of 6 Music and the Asia Network. Favourite protest was the nod to Father Ted, with a bunch of people holding up the phrase “Down with this sort of thing”.
- Electronic pioneer Gary Numan’s playing a rare live show for The Playground at Scala (April 13) ahead of his appearance at Coachella in California, I know where I prefer to be.
- Remember Diana Vickers? She was the wide-eyed, slightly strangled-voiced one off X-Factor. See how she turned out at Scala (May 12).
- Ex Housemartin and Beautiful South frontman Paul Heaton’s joined the cycling hordes. He’s cycling 1,000 miles around England to play local pubs. He stops off at The Monarch, Camden, (May 13). Fans are invited to join him on the trip. It's like Eddie Izzard's Marathon Man, with beer instead of ice-cream.
- We've had The Priests and The Soldiers so what's the next trade the record industry can exploit for their quaint-ness? That's right it's the Cornish Fishermen! Universal music has signed up 10 Port Isaac's Fisherman's Friends for an album of seafaring shanties. Something for Father's day perhaps? Whenever that is.
DEPRESSING news about plans to axe BBC 6 Music. Huey Morgan, from the Fun Lovin’ Criminals – interviewed above – recently won an award for his 6Music show.
Why, when the Beeb are permanently under scrutiny for their unwise spending of public money, do they choose to delete a gem like this? I guess they need the cash to secure endless Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps repeats – that’s what teenagers really like, right?
• l know him as the man who created Lil Chris – but to most people Gene Simmons is the make-up wearing frontman of glam-rock band KISS. He and his clan put on an incredible show but, the reason that made the gig special - that it was in such a small venue - almost backfired on them in the end. Determined to put on a worthy show, they closed the show with a sustained blast of ticker-tape. I thought we in the balcony were the only ones suffering shortness of breath from the blast of air coming from the cannons, but it appears the band also suffered and were unable to continue past the one encore. Still it was a night to remember - even if I walked off with a headache.
• Amy Winehouse was back in her old haunts this week. She showed her allegiance to Camden’s iconic Dublin Castle by pulling pints for punters. “I’m a Camden girl,” she told me. “I’d do anything for Camden.”
(Amy Winehouse at Camden Monarch - August 2008)
• They’re the band everyone’s talking about. HURTS play Koko on May 10 and we’re gonna be there – so should you.
• Ever-innovative, ex-UK beatbox champ Beardyman’s touring again and this time he’s stopping off at 02 Academy Islington (May 2). But he’s leaving his fate in the hands of his fans. Send suggestions to him, along with your city, on Twitter with hashtag #beardytour and he’ll try to include them in his set.
• Quadrophenia or is it EastEnders’ Phil Daniels and Ian Dury/Gollum actor Andy Serkis have joined the bill for the Barbican’s celebration of the city Songs in the Key of London (March 9). Together with an eclectic collection of singers – Chris Difford, Blaine Harrison, Jools Holland, James Hunter, Mike Lindsay & Becky Jacobs (of Tunng), Natty, Rico Rodriguez, Chas Smash, Suggs, Glenn Tilbrook and Kathryn Williams – they celebrate songs about the capital.
A WISE, cynical hack at the KISS gig in Islington on Tuesday was debating the BBC's motives for axing 6 Music and the Asia Network. "It's not just about cuts," he told me. "Hardly anyone's talking about the Asia Network. But if enough of a fuss is made about 6 Music and they agree to save it, then they can let the Asia Network disappear quietly." Was this the plan all along? A sleight of hand trick on the part of the BBC? Threatening to lose a popular station so when it's later "saved", no-one complains when a lesser known channel is culled in compromise - sounds shrewd. If it's true, it's working. Most of the attention and campaigning is focused on 6 Music, leaving the Asian Network to fall under the radar slightly. Maybe this journo's on to something.
THEY were the hottest tickets in town on Tuesday night - going for hundreds of pounds on eBay. But somehow, thanks to some very kind people at 02 Academy Islington, I ended up with a pair of tickets to see KISS. People had queued outside the venue for the whole day just for a chance to snap up a ticket at the door after the original allocation sold out in record time. Die hard fans knew just how precious these tickets were - it's not often you get to see a stadium band in such a small venue. Hairy men stood side-by-side with glammed-up rock chicks just to catch a glimpse of Gene Simmons et al. And the band relished every second. Their compact setting just emphasised their gargantuan status. Their make-up served the dual purpose of cementing their enigmatic superhero personas while at the same time acting as a wonder anti-ageing cream - not a wrinkle in sight. Simmons obliged with all his tongue-waving and KISS, against a backdrop of Hollywood lights, dazzled. Their set was tight, the sound clear and their nu-metal stacked gothic boots elevated them to stellar proportions.
They ended with a blinding ticker-tape onslaught, which nearly suffocated former All Saints singers Nicole and Natalie Appleton who, until then, had been right at the front, hanging over the balcony, looking like they knew every word. (see here) Who knew they'd be such KISS fans? Less of a surprise was comedian Noel Fielding, who bears some resemblance to all the band members put together - although he seemed oddly lacking in make-up this time. He and Mighty Boosh co-star Julian Barratt spent only a short time in the VIP bar before preferring to join the hairy men in the pit below.
Setlist:
Modern Day Delilah Cold Gin Let Me Go Rock And Roll Say Yeah Calling Dr. Love Got To Choose I Love It Loud 100,000 Years Love Gun Black Diamond Rock And Roll All Nite Detroit Rock City
ONLY two months to Camden’s answer to the marathon – a prolonged drunken stumble between 40 venues over two days, hell, it’s tougher than the pansy marathon, it’s the Camden Crawl. Get training. The initial line-up was released this week but the big names are yet to come.
Here’s my pick so far – Sunshine Underground, The Drums, The Delays, Chew Lips, The Hundred in the Hands, Holly Miranda, Eliza Doolittle, Billy Childish, Best Coast, Speech Debelle (because she’s unpredictable) and Jamie Woon. Some from my uni days in there – Cornershop, Babybird and Teenage Fanclub. See the full line-up at www.camden newjournal.com and follow me on twitter @roisingadelrab
• Face paints ready, grandad rockers KISS play the humble 02 Academy Islington on March 2 – make-up guide’s on Wikipedia if you need help. The tickets sold out in seconds and now they're going for hundreds of pounds on eBay.
• Kentish Town’s Rough Science blend music from around the world to give you a wicked and unexpected night, full of Latin rhythms, hip-hop bass and beats with some London lyrical sensibility. (Bull and Gate, March 6).
• Too excited – former Record of the Week boys Robot Disaster play Camden Barfly on Saturday.
• Lightning Strikes the Empire State are ready to launch their first single. See them at the Water Rats on March 2.
• Tweet of the Week goes to @davejoyner in response to news Peckham rapper Giggs has had to cancel his tour – including a date at 02 Academy Islington on March 4 – due to security fears: “Nice of the Feds to help shut down that Giggs tour in case it got all stabby and/or shooty and ting.”
Irish-Egyptian journalist, music writer + mint tea drinker.
Music editor for the Camden New Journal, Islington Tribune and West End Extra newspapers.
Many of these articles will have appeared in the above publications first, see www.camdennewjournal.com/music
All words and opinions on this blog entirely my own. Roisin Gad el Rab / Roisin Gadelrab
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