CAMDEN CRAWL - WATERLOGGED AND WONDERFUL - DAN LE SAC VS SCROOBIUS PIP, ROLO TOMASSI, PENDULUM, CASIO KIDS, MAN LIKE ME, THE HUNDRED IN THE HANDS AND MORE

RIVERS of black eyeliner streamed down Camden High Street as buckets of torrential rain threatened to wash away thousands of Camden Crawlers last 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.

(Drenched Camden Crawlers enjoy Man Like Me)

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”. I was 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 picks of mine, 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 would be 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.
Here's a round-up of some of the acts I made it to:

ROLO TOMASSI - RED BULL OUTDOOR STAGE

An enigma – switching from tuneless, eyes-rolling-to-the-back-of-their-heads, roaring hardcore rock to almost deconstructed jazzy instrumentals, mathrock giants Rolo Tomassi were captivating but painful to listen to. It was hard to tear away from lead singer Eva Spence, who sounded like a sweet young girl when chatting, but became a freaky possessed wildcat with a piercing screech, when the music began, singing the odd delicate tuneful refrain. Not one for me.

CASIO KIDS, then KATY B - JAZZ CAFE
A welcome change of pace, light in sound, happy electro, they attracted huge queues and quite rightly so. The kind of guys you want to hang out with, because you know it’d be fun.
Katy B's soul had hints of rude-girl attitude but was a bit too loungey. An accomplished singer who feels every word.

PLAN B – ROUNDHOUSE

Plan B rocked the camp bouncer look. Switching from rudeboy rapper to shiny suited doorman, to cheesy house dancer to Marvin Gaye-soul, Plan B played a confusing set. He was a little light on the rap, focusing more on his crooning, but maybe not quite what his crowd was waiting for. Each time he did burst into a short rap, the audience cheered their approval.

EMILY BARKER - BLACK CAP
Described by Andy Ross as having one of the best voices in the country, Australian singer Barker, with fiddle and accordion accompanists played a pure set of beautiful country/folk.

PENDULUM - ROUNDHOUSE

What better way to dry out than to launch into the swirling tumble drier of a mosh pit for Pendulum. Their tunes didn’t need much variety, and too right, a track from their new album (plugged 300 times), verged on euro-dance and sounded flat. So a wise return to the repetitive beats, mindless MCing, the odd varied bassline and a bit of electronica. The ultimate professionals, Pendulum are masters of winding up frantic drum ‘n bass to the highest scale.

TIM TEN YEN - SPREADEAGLE

Food Records’ Andy Ross’ picks were varied and enthralling. Lanky besuited Tim Ten Yen, whose only accompaniments were the smallest keyboard in the world and a sleeping battery-powered cat, had an air of John Hegley about him. Geeky synth-pop, comic vocals and uncle dancing.

MAN LIKE ME - OUTDOOR STAGE
So good we saw them twice. Only the most hardy braved the outdoor stage on day one. Many questioned if the acts would even bother to turn up, but all credit to them, they did. Nothing would dampen Man Like Me’s spirits, they played like the sun was blazing, frontman Johnny Langer coming on under a Lidl bag. And they managed to raise a party from the small but formidable umbrella-clutching crowd. They played a triumphant show at Electric Ballroom at midnight, turning the crowd into one big house bash. It’s hard not to smile when they’re around.

GAGGLE - ELECTRIC BALLROOM

There was considerable buzz around this female choir who sing about modern-east-London type female dilemmas “How can I tell if My Man is a Liar” in a freaky tribal confrontational, don’t mess with us way, while sounding a little like the pickpockets from the musical Oliver!
Wearing colourful rags, they looked more like the latest wannabe Britain's Got Talent dance troupe but, although credit due for their bold attempts to be different - not something I'd like to hear more of.

THE HUNDRED IN THE HANDS - DINGWALLS
Moody electro duo. Guy plays guitar, girl fiddles about with electric things, runs her hands through her hair a lot and pouts under her fringe. Sound great. They should be French.

DAN LE SAC vs SCROOBIUS PIP - RED BULL OUTDOOR STAGE

The only other act I saw twice. They command a loyal following, many thousands on twitter and many more in real life. A drier Hawley Crecent was packed for their earlier show, Le Sac a perfect wing-man to Giant Pip’s almost preacher-like demeanour. Extremely accessible, Pip was correct when he told me his music brought together followers from all walks of life – people you’d never expect to see enjoying the same gig. Their evening Electric Ballroom set turned into one huge messianic party – a clearly memorable show.

PROFESSOR GREEN - THE ROUNDHOUSE
Forced to play the evening set after endless delays during the Sugababes, Professor Green came on bounding with energy. He’s got a cheeky young voice and his hit “I Need you Tonight” was just that.

BABYBIRD - DUBLIN CASTLE

Stephen Jones aka Babybird was in fine voice, though a little nervous he wouldn’t be playing to anyone who’d actually heard of him. He was wrong. It was an all-age crowd and he won a warm reception.

LEAFCUTTER JOHN - BARFLY

His atmospheric solo was drowned out by the rudest baying Barfly crowd in history. Where in other venues, similar acts were respected, something strange was happening here. He soldiered on and the few who were listening were mesmerised. But it’s hard to believe he was not affected by the confidence-shattering reception

THE WILDERNESS OF MANITOBA - SPREADEAGLE
Last of Andy Ross' picks, New Age Canadian four-piece with haunting harmonies, a cross between Simon and Garfunkle and Fleet Foxes – a laid-back mid-afternoon interlude with Tibetan singing bowls and a cello.

ANOTHER BAND - ICE WHARF
Emerging Talent Award winners Another Band brought “atmosphere” to the Ice Wharf – absent since the day it opened – you know what I’m saying. We actually witnessed rhythm in the dancing crowd.

BABYBIRD - DEBT TO DEPP

THE first time Babybird frontman Stephen Jones saw Johnny Depp, he was sitting under his desk, backside to the door, in a house in the King’s Road.
From these humble beginnings grew a long-term friendship, with Ol’ Jack Sparrow becoming so chummy with the Nottingham singer that he played guitar on and directed the video for Babybird’s current single Unlovable. The video also features This is England actor Stephen Graham.
Stephen first met Depp when he was filming Finding Neverland.
“I was summoned to come meet him,” says Stephen. “The first time I saw him he was under his desk with a guy that works with him... so the first thing I saw was their backsides.”

He credits Depp for making new album Ex-Maniac possible.
“I made it in LA and it was kind of paid for by Johnny Depp – it’s the best production of any album I’ve ever had. It’s got quite an American feel to some of the songs which I didn’t plan. I hope every song I write is different but you can’t change your voice that much so that always brands it as a Babybird record.”
He said Depp was “the same as most directors”, adding: “If something’s not going right they’ll tell you, but if it is they don'’t say anything.
“He did come and just tell me the odd thing but I got through it. It was very strange because there wasn’t any lip synching so it was almost like an acting job. The subject matter’s quite dark. We had a massive film set, four days shooting in the forest.”

Away from his Hollywood mates, Stephen enjoys a quiet life with his family in Belsize Park, and is a regular visitor to Camden market.
He said: “I love it, it’s a fantastic market, the best I’ve been to in the world. I love the horses and everything. I know it’s become more of a business but some of it is like entering another world, bits from Blade Runner, it’s changed for the good.”
It’s been a while since Babybird’s smash You’re Gorgeous and with the big hit behind him, Stephen is relishing working to his own tune.
He says: “Babybird’s maybe not as commercial as it could be because of the lyrics I like to write – the first line of the album is, ‘I will kill you said the five-year-old’. It’s not necessarily going to be easy to get it played on radio.

“I’m lucky because my big success came years ago, with You’re Gorgeous and that album. I didn’t really want it to be a massive success, it just happened. So after waiting a couple of years to go off the radar again, I’ve been lucky to do what I wanted – no commercial pressure, particularly with this new album. If it fails it doesn’t matter too much because we can make another.”
But, Stephen revealed, he has an incurable disease, menieres, which can affect his hearing.
“Van Gough apparently had it, one of the reasons he cut his ear off,” he says.

“It just happens because I’m into music I get this thing that affects my right ear. It’s okay, it’s very liveable, but some people get it and it’s terrible. You’re in the middle of the street, you look drunk just because your whole balance is gone and you’re falling all over the place. It’s horrible when it happens, I could be looking straight at you but everything is spinning round and I can’t focus.
“It’s kind of water pressure in your ear building up and you feel you’ve got a pea stuck in it. I get that every now and then. I’ve never had the bad episodes but it still affects you when you’re listening to music. You can only hear out of one side when the pressure builds up.”
• Babybird play Scala on March 25 and the Camden Crawl (May 1 and 2).

UNLIKELY CELEB GROUPIES GETTING IN ON THE ACT- JOHNNY DEPP, PAUL KAYE AND MAT HORNE

THE first time Babybird frontman Stephen Jones saw Johnny Depp, he was under his desk, backside towards the door.
Now, old Jack Sparrow is the official director of Babybird's new single Unloveable out on Monday.
The Fun Lovin' Criminals have been friends with actor Paul Kaye ever since he began flaunting his outrageous Dennis Pennis character in LA.
Recently liberated from their own legal wrangles, Huey Morgan told me he could identify with Kaye's outrageous MTV lawyer character Mike Strutter.
And now Kaye's featuring on the FLC's new album Classic Fantastic on comedy skit ‘Conversations With Our Attorney’ featuring Mike Strutter.
At the same time the video for last year's stunning Maccabees single No Kind Words featured Gavin and Stacey actor Mat Horne, who's been following the band for some time.
And he did it for nothing.
And now it just remains to predict who next and how famous do I have to get before a band will let me star/direct/or just appear in their video?