EVENT REVIEW
I was ready for a trip out of the states, so in April, I headed to London for one of the best indie music festivals in the world, the Camden Crawl.

The Camden Crawl is set in Camden Town, just north of central London. One of the birthplaces of UK punk, the neighborhood oozes musical history. It's home to Dingwalls, where members of The Clash got in a brawl with members of The Stranglers. It's home to the Roundhouse, where, in 1976, the Ramones played to an audience of baby punks from new bands called The Clash and The Damned. It's home to the Music Machine, now Koko, a venue who hosted the early shows of the Clash and Richard Hell. It's home to the Dublin Castle, a small pub where Madness began spitting out the ska. It's also home to the Hawley Arms, where Peaches Geldof, Amy Winehouse, and Kelly Osbourne get blitzed together, but who's keeping track? For an amateur punk historian like myself, it's mecca.

So the Camden Crawl works like this: Pay 100 pounds, and you own a wristband that gets you into 40 different venues in Camden. The venues at Camden Crawl host comedy shows, trivia quizzes, music, and poetry. To see the most current and popular acts, like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, you have to wait in a separate line to get another special wristband ala Bumbershoot.

We didn't have to wait in line for Echo Bunnymen or the Fall. I guess they're not as popular anymore.

Each day, you pick up a schedule that details what's happening and where. When you get the calendar, you sit down, plan out your day, and hope you don't miss anything good.

You will miss something good. You will. No use worrying your pretty little head about it....The best bands in the world play at the Camden Crawl. Sometimes in the smallest and most unexpected venues.