Crowds at last year's Camden Crawl. Picture: James Perou.

Camden Town festival signs off in style with star-studded KOKO show

Glasvegas

»After months of sweat and toil from Islington local Lisa Paulon and her team of organisers, this year’s Camden Crawl signed off in style inside theatre-turned-nightclub KOKO.

London five-piece Spector followed Stockholm’s electropop duo Niki & The Dove on the evening’s warm-up bill, in preparation for two of the festival’s biggest acts to close the bank holiday weekend’s festivities.

First up was James Allan and his Glasvegas bandmates, reminding everyone of the sublimity of their debut record in 2008.

The Glaswegians have released another album since and are set to bring out a third later this year, but their Crawl debut was all about rekindling the magic of the first.

Frontman Allan must have one of the most powerful voices in indie rock and he put it to good use, with a blistering performance which at one point saw the entire crowd singing back the instantly recognisable Daddy’s Gone.

Rattling through their set, Glasvegas quickly made way for headliners The Cribs – playing on the eve of the release of their fifth album In the Belly of the Brazen Bull.

The sense of occasion was not lost on bassist and singer Gary Jarman who told the crowd: “We’ve been away for a while, it’s great to be back.”

Guitarist and twin brother Ryan demonstrated slightly less sentiment, adding: “We’re from Wakefield – we’re just a bunch of weirdos!”

But there is no need for sentiment when you can play the guitar like Jarman, his formidable skills were on full show as the band treated punters to a setlist spanning their back catalogue.

As Jarman departed the stage, leaving the reverberating shrill of feedback in his wake, the Crawl’s triumph was palpable.

If you weren’t there this time, don’t miss next year’s instalment.

* The Camden Crawl took place at venues across Camden Town over the May Bank Holiday weekend