25/2/2007 Hard rock cover bands in Camden...

Subject	Hard rock cover bands in Camden...
PostedDate	2/25/2007
	Bit of a cheap night out in Camden this - well apart from the drinks prices in Bar Monsta.  Two venues, two hard rock cover bands - and both free to get in. My first port of call was the aforementioned joint. My journey there was a bit of a nightmare and took half an hour longer than planned due to the tube at weekends being utter shite!  I ended up having to get a bus from Euston to Camden - and regular readers will know how much I hate buses!  Consequently, I only arrived in time to see the last few songs of the cover set from Rockworkz. I was hoping to check out Marc Eden from Men & Gods as Slash said he was "one of the greatest Rock n' Roll singers I have ever heard". Unfortunately, although he regularly sings with the band he didn't turn up on this occasion. One of the vocalists helping out was Luca from Cavalar, who it has to be said did a decent enough job. Led Zep's 'Rock And Roll' was played pretty damn well - particularly by the drummer. Even though I hadn't seen this act before - as soon as I saw Luca adjusting the mic to point down instead of up I knew what the last song was going to be before a note was played - there followed probably the best version of 'Ace Of Spades' I've ever heard (apart from when Motörhead play it of course!) and again the drumming was particularly good. I only bothered getting one drink at Bar Monsta - now it is being run by the previous people again the prices have gone back to rip-off levels and I don't think I'll be spending much money at the bar there on my future visits.  I wasn't impressed by being charged £4 for a bottle of Magners watery cider...  It's a shame as it had become one of my favourite haunts in Camden over the past year and I've no idea how many gigs I went to there in 2006 - but it was a lot. I doubt I will be paying many visits there this year, although I will certainly be going there to see Vamps 'N' Gypsies this Friday.  Mick is currently looking for a new venue to move the bar and bands to - the sooner he finds one the better... After the band finished at Bar Monsta I headed a few yards down the road to the World's End to see another hard rock cover band playing a free admission gig. To be honest Dead Seed weren't as good a band as the outfit I'd just seen up the road, but were actually more entertaining in some ways. It was certainly more full than Bar Monsta had just been for a very similar act, but that was probably more due to the location of the venue than the band playing. The cheaper booze and much better selection behind the bar probably had something to do with that as well. It wasn't all good at the World's End though - as there didn't seem to be any real ale on draught any more.  I had to make do with bottles of Newcastle Brown - which was still a great improvement on the best Bar Monsta (probably soon to change names) in now offering. Still, it was decent enough entertainment for free on a Sunday evening - quite a few other people seemed to think so too as the band were getting a pretty good reception. Camden sleaze scene journeyman guitarist Niro got up to play with the band for a song or two, and quite a few people who had been at the Rockworkz gig up the road earlier turned up as well. The singer announced that they would finish the night with an AC/DC song - so I was rather surprised when they finished with 'Heatseeker' instead of one of the band's best known songs - it's hardly a 'classic' is it?  This band are certainly worth checking out if you are in Camden on a Sunday night - as are Rockworkz. Anyone who used to go to see Metalworkz at the Caernavon Castle would find the setlists of both these bands very familiar - and as you can see them for free you haven't got much to lose really. It's not a bad way to round off the weekend.