“I’ve long been planning on writing a song about the northbound Northern Line platform at Waterloo Station,” says the former hardcore punk-turned-folk-singer-songwriter. “That was a place of much excitement to me. As a kid, coming in from Winchester, I wasn’t interested in getting to anywhere else in London. It was always Camden.”  - Frank Turner

As a Midlander I don’t go south much and when I do it’s usually to my family in the Surrey suburbs. For reviewing purposes, Manchester, Liverpool and other close localities provide all the music I need - including festivals. It was for this reason, and with some trepidation, that I decided to venture down to the big smoke and The Camden Rocks Festival - a bit of danger does me good…

The festival in North London offered everything a festival should - twenty clustered venues, well over three hundred acts spread over two days, good travel links and much more. Basing myself in Surbiton, Surrey travel was easy via mainline trains and a direct underground route from Waterloo to Camden Town station which is located right at the centre of all the action. A quick visit to a pub just metres away for my pass and programme before making the briefest of journeys to one of London’s most iconic venues - The Electric Ballroom.

This was my first visit to The Ballroom and after negotiating the tight security checks was surprised to find that the venue opened up to reveal something much larger with fabulous separated bar facilities, a large stage and more friendly and confidence-building security.

http://collateralofficial.com/

When Collateral started out, they were known as the Angelo Tristan Band, with frontman Angelo and bass player Jack forming the nucleus of the band. Since then, almost 5 years ago, they have worked tirelessly to grow the act, the fanbase and the bands profile. In true rock and roll style, the ride hasn’t been easy for this four-piece, but their sheer grit and determination have seen them overcome obstacles and go from strength to strength. The past few years have been no exception, but, with the recent addition of new members Todd Winger (guitar) and Ben Atkinson (drums) and the release in May 2018 of their debut single ‘Midnight Queen’, this band have really stepped up their game and are now starting to attract the attention they deserve.

For a band that was totally new to me (and probably to many others) I was impressed with both the quality of songs and vocal/instrumental performance. Leadman Angelo looked like a rock ‘n’ roll hero and vocally delivered in spades, and with a debut album waiting in the wings I witnessed enough to look out for it. Time to move on to another iconic venue for anotehr band I knew nothing about…

https://www.facebook.com/pg/alivewitheyes/about/?ref=page_internal

It became obvious that Camden must be one of London’s very major attractions with its communication links, shops, eateries, venues and dissected by a wonderful canal. In fact struggling through the thousands of people to arrive at Dingwalls Canalside took longer than it should have done. And when I eventually arrived at the venue it was so packed I could just about see the lead singer of Alive With Eyes. This young rock 4-piece band came together in 2013 and it seemed had garnered a large number of loyal fans. Lead vocalist Jake Adams was in good form and displaying a smile throughout must have been happy with the great reception he received. The band’s rock was mild but very effective with melody at its heart. I was impressed. Two songs and I was off to catch the next show.

https://en-gb.facebook.com/LiamBurkeMusic/

Back over the canal and I retraced my steps to find a pub called the Brewdog and my first acoustic show of the festival. Liam Burke performed with humour and skill in front of a few folk fans in the pub’s cellar. A couple of pop-tinged songs later and I was off again back to The Electric Ballroom.