7/10/2006 Towers Of London & Vamps 'N' Gypsies in Camden - a busy night!

Subject	Towers Of London & Vamps 'N' Gypsies in Camden
PostedDate	10/7/2006
	A busy night. I had three gigs I wanted to go to, plus I had to visit a venue to sort out a gig for my own band. Unfortunately, I only had time to get to two out of the three gigs - but I did end up going somewhere else after... The first gig I wanted to go to was a (very good) cover band at a local pub. The band are friends, and I expected there would be other people I know there too. I wanted to go to this one for two reasons - to support my friends, and also to show my face in the venue and maybe get my band another gig there. Unfortunately, I only had time to get to a couple of gigs, and the other two shows I wanted to go to were both in Camden so it made more sense to leave out the Barnet one.  I stopped off to visit a mate in his pub to fix up a gig there, then it was off to Camden. Bar Monsta was my first port of call to catch the very rocking Vamps 'N' Gypsies. Unfortunately I missed over half their set due to taking care of business elsewhere in north London, but from what I saw they were excellent as usual.  I still had plenty of time before I had to leave Bar Monsta for my final (planned) port of call of the night so I decided to catch as much of the other bands as I could. Next band was Patchwork Grace. This outfit made a refreshing change from the usual 'Sleaze-by-numbers' bands I see all the time in Camden. They are sort of sleazy glam, but with more of a 'pop' edge, and a frontwoman who reminded me a lot of Karen O - although this band don't sound like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They weren't as good as the previous band and didn't have as many people watching them, but they could be worth keeping an eye on. I didn't have time to catch much of the headliners set. I'd been looking forward to seeing Gypsy Pistoleros for a while as I'd seen their name around quite a bit. However, they struck me a very much 'same old same old' and didn't really have anything much to set them apart from all the other glam/sleaze acts on the scene. I was expecting a decent crowd in to see this band, but to my surprise they had a noticably smaller audience than the previous bands on the bill. We bailed out of Bar Monsta and headed off down the road to Stay Beautiful @ the Purple Turtle to see Towers Of London. As I left the venue I discovered a text and a voicemail on my phone from someone at the Barnet gig demmanding to know where I was and why I wasn't in Barnet - not that I'd told anyone Iwas going anyway - and she never told me she was going either so... Nice to be missed I guess.  After their brief 'Tourettes Of London' hiccup the other day at the Borderline things appear to have been resolved and the full Towers lineup re-instated.  The Purple Turtle was full of people up for a good time - and Towers Of London were determined to give it to them. They had something to prove to the doubters at this show - that not only haven't they split up - but they are back in full force and firing on all cylinders! It was certainly a good show, although I've seen them better. It's quite common for guitarists and singers of the more rocking bands to use the bar as an extension of the stage at this venue, but of this occasion The Rev took it to the extreme and walked to the far end of the bar while soloing. Singer Donny clambered over speaker stacks and the drum kit ect, and ended the show with a stage dive into the audience. As usual, the band gave the crowd what they wanted and proved they are back and still a force to be reckoned with.  Towers didn't hit the stage till after 11.30 and I was resigned to missing the last tube, but the band's performance made it well worth it as I had hoped it would. However, I was still planning to get the night bus home fairly soon after the band had finished so I could get up at a reasonable time on Saturday and get stuff done. However, I was persuaded to go on to Decadence after - against my better judgement I thought. Anyway, I seemed to manage to escape from there at chucking out time without being covered in blood this time, and I managed to leave Bar Monsta earlier under my own steam without being carried out by scandinavian girls this time - so a result all round!  Saw some good bands as well so it was a good (if busy) night's entertainment!