Highlights from Camden Rocks Festival 2018 – Part 3

Part 1 – Dirty Thrills, 10 Gauge: https://realrockandroll.wordpress.com/2018/06/04/highlights-from-camden-rocks-festival-2018/

Part 2 – Black Sixteen, Katalina Kicks: https://realrockandroll.wordpress.com/2018/06/05/highlights-from-camden-rocks-festival-2018-part-2/

After watching Katalina Kicks I had planned to go and see At The Sun, but I wouldn’t have made it to the venue in time to see the whole set, and Cavalcade’s gig was at least a 10-15 minute walk away.

Cavalcade were playing at 3:30 p.m. at Crescent Coffee. If I went to see At The Sun, I would have missed their whole gig and I hadn’t seen them live before. Weighing it up, as I had seen At The Sun live before I decided to go and see Cavalcade. These are the types of decisions you have to make throughout the day when you go to Camden Rocks Festival because of the distance between the venues and the short sets that the bands play. 😕

Cavalcade

I knew very little about Cavalcade. I’m not sure how I heard about them, I think they may have liked something I tweeted about Camden Rocks, or I may have seen a promo photo on Camden Rocks Festival’s page. However it happened, I was curious enough to listen to their music when I found out they were playing at the festival. I really enjoyed what I heard from this band online and added them to my ever-growing list of bands that I wanted to see.

I’m really glad I went to see Cavalcade because they are a brilliant live band. In particular I had liked their track “Anita” and was looking forward to hearing it live. They play punky alternative/indie rock that has a bit of a retro sound.

I was impressed with their set and will be looking out for more of their music. It was nice to see a couple of members of Sisteray in the audience watching this band. Cavalcade’s music is quite similar in sound to Sisteray’s.

I am a fan of Sisteray and would have liked to have seen their gig on Saturday (they were due to play later at Crescent Coffee), but there were just too many clashes and I was at the other end of Camden Town when they were playing.

Cavalcade are a talented band with a no-nonsense approach to their music. It was an energetic and passionate performance. This is the type of band that could have mass appeal.

Set list: Silver Bones/ Kathmandu Kid/ Bat Your Lashes/ Dose Of You/ Slight Of Mind/ Anita/ Broken Wheel

I was tempted to stay at Crescent Coffee after the Cavalcade gig if only because it was such a hot day and this venue has great air conditioning! 🙂 However, I had to leave straight away because Bryde was due to play at The Black Heart at 4.30 and I wanted to make sure I could get into the venue.

Bryde

I will be eternally grateful to my fellow music blogger Neil Schiller for discovering Bryde’s music and posting a review of her album “Like An Island” in April. As soon as I listened to the first track on the album “To Be Brave” I knew I was going to be a big fan of this artist.

When I found out she was playing at Camden Rocks Festival shortly after that I was over the moon!

I’d heard that there were fewer venues this year at Camden Rocks, which meant they were filling up more easily, so I made sure to get to The Black Heart as early as I could to catch Bryde as she was the artist I was most looking forward to seeing at the festival. I needn’t have worried because the venue was relatively empty when I arrived and I managed to grab a spot at the front. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the room was that it was very hot in there, like an oven compared to Crescent Coffee! I was glad I had some water with me.

By the time Bryde got on stage, the venue was almost full.

Bryde played songs from her new album. The album is awesome, full of insightful and introspective lyrics, often poignant. It’s folk-rock, and listening to her song “To Be Brave” I was reminded of how I felt when I first saw Suzanne Vega play “Small Blue Thing” years ago, it has that same kind of energy. In some ways I would compare Bryde as an artist to Suzanne Vega, as they are both able to capture and convey human emotions so well with their music.

On Saturday, Bryde was joined by two other musicians, a drummer and bassist. I don’t know whether it was the intensity of the performance, or whether it was the rawness of the sound, but I couldn’t help but think of Nirvana and how this band have a similar vibe. Obviously the music isn’t as heavy as Nirvana, but there is a grungy quality and that way of expressing life through profound lyrics. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it was wonderful to hear many of the songs from “Like An Island” brought to life. I couldn’t tell you which songs they played as I don’t have a set list and didn’t keep a note, but they did play my three faves from the album “To Be Loved”, “To Be Brave”, and “Less”. All the songs sounded awesome.

I captured a bit of “To Be Brave” because I wanted the memory. It is probably my favourite song of the year so far. I’ve listened to many times since I discovered it, and it can still bring me to tears if I’m in the right mood. It’s just one of those songs that says it all. As Neil said in his review:

“…it’s hauntingly beautiful. It’s music for standing on a pebble beach to, on a cold day, staring pensively out at the grey ocean. It sounds like a song about isolation and self-doubt. It gradually builds though, it progresses, it evolves into something reminiscent of PJ Harvey’s ‘The Mess We’re In’. Honestly, I can’t stop listening to it. If there was any justice in the world this would already be being talked about as a bit of a classic.”