The sun was out as 8000 fans descended on Camden Town for this year's instalment of Camden Rocks. The festival is getting bigger year on year, and has built a truly solid reputation. Across all 17 venues, the vibe was superb as bands across different genres and sub-genres came together to create yet another excellent event.
First order of the day seen us end up down in The Underworld to check out the solid sounding Sondura (8/13). Towards the end of their set, the crowd had picked up a bit which seemed to encourage a higher intensity from the performance. They play a blend of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, with quite strong influences from the likes of Alter Bridge as their catchy riffs set everyone up perfectly for the rest of the day. Moving over to the Electric Ballroom, the bizarre and excellently named The Peckham Cowboys (9/13) delivered a set full of catchy and heavy Blues Rock, winning over several new fans. New single The Debt Collecter made a particular impression.
With barely anytime to take a breath it was back over to the Underworld again to check out the popular Verses (8/13) who rolled through tracks from their latest release Feel It Faster along with old tracks which had sections of the crowd singing along enthusiastically. Moving onto The Black Heart, a band whose stock is seriously on the rise at the moment, Sons Of Icarus (9/13) played an awesome sounding set. They've really nailed on integrating a Stoner feel to what would normally be quite standard Heavy Rock tunes, and the place was absolutely packed out for them. Expect to see them in bigger venues at events like this in the near future. With a hop, skip and jump back to The Underworld, another band who were generating quite a lot of buzz on the day Hounds (9/13) delivered a blisteringly loud set full of smash mouth riffs, and well executed electronic parts. Some of the tunes made them sound almost like an Industrial Metal band, triggering small pits and plenty of head banging across the floor.
Up next on this stage Devil Sold His Soul (9/13) raced through yet another impressive set (it's not bad this festival!) - at least they tried to as their longer song's don't really suit the short festival set format . The band sounded really tight, and their energetic nature rubbed off on the crowd who greeted them with fervent enthusiasm. The band's blend of post hardcore and prog Metal has always mixed well live and today was no different. Devil Sold His Soul are set to release new music this year, so they are well worth checking out at their own shows for a better experience if you get the chance.
Moving across Camden to The Monarch, Black Dogs (11/13) started a run of some truly ridiculous and brilliant performances to close out the day. Playing tracks exclusively from latest album Grief (which we gave a stunning 13/13 at the back end of last year), the band triggered absolute carnage in a heartbeat. The classic fare, of "move forward" from front man to crowd couldn't really be ignored, as front man Gollo prowls around just waiting for an excuse to start a riot. We had effectively the whole band in the crowd by the end, with Gollo carried across the pit like a messiah figure - and getting a bloody nose for his troubles. People looking down from the top deck of passing buses had a look of shock and awe at the madness going on inside The Monarch which was highly entertaining. Absolutely stunning band.
With a quick dash to The Electric Ballroom, the chaotic, brilliant and mesmerising Turbowolf (12/13) were hitting in the stage, and oh wow did the place go off. If you were lucky enough to get a ticket to their recent intimate tour showcasing new music, you'll already know that this is a band bang on form at the moment and sharply on the rise. Tunes like Ancient Snake, Bag O' Bones and A Rose For The Crows (excellently preceded by a venue wide sing along of Roses Are Red My Love) unleashed an absolute warzone. Front man Chris Georgiadis was having the time of his life as he had plenty of space to crowd surf around in. Much like the small tour from a weeks ago, the new stuff, which is yet to be released, also went down brilliantly, there are not many bands who are able to trigger such a reaction to fresh material live, but Turbowolf managed to do so almost effortlessly, especially via their performance of new single Solid Gold.
Back upstairs at The Black Heart The Hell (11/13) absolutely packed out the venue, mainly through curiosity as what exactly this is all about. After calling at least three people "scrotty c*nts" and joking that we've got a 90% male crowd they flew into tracks from last years release You're Listening To The Hell instantly opening up a pit and causing all round bedlam. The band also had the opportunity, amongst all the abuse and stage banter, to blitz through a couple of new tracks from upcoming release Groovehammer. And groove is right, despite all the general chaos, and demeanour of not really taking it all seriously, they sounded ridiculously tight, and never has a band who have only two strings on both their guitar and bass sounded so good.
Last but not least, Baby Godzilla (12/13) played a set which will truly go down in Camden history. The band are famed for their live performances, with the apocalyptic kind of chaos they bring and they really did not disappoint here. There wasn't a platform or beam around the stage which the band didn't try and climb. When you've got a security guard running around the venue after various members trying to get them to calm down a bit, you know you've hit a good kind of overkill. Blink and you'll miss it kind of performance; you'll be focussing on the front man climbing around the ceiling before realising the guitarist has found his way to the bar and is about to launch himself across back to the stage. Perhaps the most bizarre thing amongst all this is the fact they still sound absolutely great. In theory all everyone should have been hearing is broken strings flying off of guitars, amps exploding and pained shouts, instead the band deliver an unbelievable set. Highlight was definitely Powerboat Disaster which caused an impromptu circle pit around an amp which had been dragged into the crowd. The Monarch will never be the same again.
So with that the curtain once again came down on this exciting event. At 25 Quid, there is no other festival in the UK offering better value. We've been able to cover a wide selection of bands from a few stages, but even that feels like a drop in the ocean of the sheer scope this festival is able to provide. It's getting bigger and better every year; make sure you don't miss out in 2015.