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Festival previews: Camden Rocks 2016
This weekend sees over 200 bands taking over Camden’s vibrant music scene and sprawling array of bars and venues for the annual Camden Rocks Festival – with so many to choose from, we’ve selected our highlights from the bill to save you some time:
DRONES
12:00 – Good Mixer
Recently revived as a quartet, Drones are a four-piece punk rock band from Camberley. Formed by their love for all that is loud, fast and melodic by guitarist / vocalist Daly George, they’re on a mission to provide mass hysteria with socio-political tunes reminiscent of Anti-Flag, Strike Anywhere and Rise Against. Having travelled the country playing all venues from festivals to underground squats, the band signed to Lockjaw Records in 2011 to release their debut album ‘Mutiny’. Several tours and a BBC Radio1 Maida Vale session later, the band have now released their second offering, the Free Marked Kid EP.
WITTERQUICK
14:00 – Dublin Castle
Following a support tour with Nothing But Thieves late last year, this Exeter bunch of alt-rock hopefuls have just been picked for a Kerrang! Fresh Blood feature and were recently part of Huw Stephen’s BBC R1 Academy. Playing new material from their forthcoming release ‘Beneath The Spinning Lights’, they’ve also just signed to LAB Records.
BRAWLERS
15:00 – Dingwalls
Leeds rock and roll indie/punk supergroup Brawlers are regular Glasswerk favourites and have just dropped a brand new track called ‘Day Job’ ahead of their forthcoming UK tour dates. A typically rousing, pop-fuelled riot of a track that recalls Easyworld’s 2002 underground hit single ‘Bleach’, it’s yet another firm peg in their ascent to the pinnacle of the UK’s pile of independent bands. You can catch the quartet on tour throughout the spring and summer on select dates, but their Camden Rocks appearance ain’t one to miss – expect chaos.
FIZZY BLOOD
17:00 – The Hawley Arms
Marking themselves out as one of the most promising young Northern rock bands going, Fizzy Blood have already scored glowing praise from the likes of Kerrang! Magazine, Rock Sound, The Skinny, Big Cheese, Artrocker, Clash, Discovered Magazine, BBC Radio 1, Radio X, Scuzz TV and many more for their trashy, desert-rock-influenced anthems. The band have just come off a run of dates alongside The VirginMarys following tours with Max Raptor, The Hyena Kill, a trip to Korea for Zandari Fest, a much-lauded jaunt to this year’s South By South West in Austin, Texas and a triumphant homecoming show at Live at Leeds Festival. They are set to hit the road again in June with friends Allusondrugs.
STONEGHOST
18:00 – Bloc Bar
While we’re lashing around hyperbole today we thought we might as well chuck some at Stoneghost. You may have noticed we don’t tend to cover all that much metal here at Glasswerk, mainly because there’s a lot of shite out there – thankfully, Stoneghost don’t fit into that category. They fit into the “please can I have my head back, it appears to have been crushed by the power contained in these mighty riffs” category. We defy anyone with an ear for heavy music to not enjoy this – it’s basically all the best parts of Pantera, Dragonforce, Slipknot and System of A Down crammed into one.
COLT 45
19:00 – The Forge
The uncompromisingly and proudly DIY punk trio from Cumbria recently released their new EP ‘Snakes & Ladders’ to critical acclaim, a testament to the phrase “substance over style”. Merging heartfelt, small-town frustration with melodic punk anthems and contagious hooks, the trio have worked their way up from the bottom by gigging relentlessly. Having recently toured Germany for the first time and completing further UK tours with The Computers and subsequently FAUX, the band are now gathering an impressive set of notches on the touring and festival posts, with more live dates and further new material in the works for 2016.
HECK
20:15 – Monarch
Once Baby Godzilla, may their brilliant name rest in peace, the boys from HECK deal in one thing: complete and utter mayhem soundtrack by the end of the world. If there’s one live show for those with a penchant for the unruly to catch at Camden Rocks, it’s this one. Hold onto your hair, because this will undoubtedly get very silly indeed. Expect big, ballsy punk’n’roll riffs with technical flair and a whole lot of flailing around.
MAKING MONSTERS
22:00 – Belushi’s
Potentially one of 2016’s biggest early success stories, Derry-based quartet Making Monsters have had an astounding reaction to their debut EP ‘Bad Blood’ – BBC Radio 1, Kerrang!, Rock Sound, Upset, Metal Hammer, Team Rock, Kerrang! Radio, Scuzz TV and more are tipping this unique alt-rock bunch for big things this year, and it’s not hard to see why. Vocalist Emma Gallagher has got a voice that could crack a mountain in half, and the rest of the band are equally at home delivering intense, mature rock music at breakneck volume. Don’t miss your chance to get on board early.