Saturday, August 16, 2008
Camden charity starts behind the bar
The so-called "Camden caners", the north London celebrity set, have come out in force for a fundraising concert.
But it was not African poverty that was on their minds, nor Aids, nor any other global issue.
It was far more important - a pub.
The word "charity" was banded about a fair bit at the concert in Camden on Thursday.
The Hawley Arms, the famed headquarters of the Camden cool crowd, probably isn't an official charity, though. It's a pub.
But it was ravaged by the fire that hit part of Camden Market six months ago - and the local celebrities want it back.
So they put on a gig at Dingwalls, across the road from the burnt-out site, to raise funds for the pub's reconstruction - and as an excuse for a party.
"It's a blur. It's like a rainbow with Chelsea boots on it."
Noel Fielding is recalling the good times he has had at the Hawley. The Mighty Boosh star was hosting the evening, introducing the acts with his suave, surreal patter.
"It's like a flickbook," he says, mentally thumbing through his memories.
"There's Johnny Borrell. There's Winehouse. There's Kimberly Stewart. There's lots of crazy dancing.
We used to have a garden up the top and I used to run across the ledge in my Chelsea boots. The Ledge of Doom, I called it. They fenced it off because they said: 'You will die and that won't be good publicity.'
"I've had loads of good times there." He goes on to describe inventing a pub game that is half darts, half William Tell shooting an apple off the head, but with exotic fruit.
"I had a gun with sticker darts and we were trying to shoot guavas and mangoes off people's heads. It started off as a bit of fun.
"Before we knew what was happening, there were 40 people involved, there was a league system going, it was amazing."
It is hard to know how much is true and how much is in Fielding's fervent imagination, but there is clearly much affection for the place.
"It was an amazing pub, which we all had some great and messy times in," according to Lois Winstone, daughter of actor Ray.
"There's no other places to have a good drink and a good laugh."
Winstone is a singer and her new group, This Year's Model, performed at the fundraiser.
She put on the most visually arresting performance, dressed like a human glitterball in a mirrored bodice, with black velvet gloves, metallic tights and vampish hair.
Judging by the crowd, the Hawley's dress code was anything goes, with the swinging set recycling and reinventing fashions from every era.
Outside there was a girl in hot pants, laddered tights, big glasses and a big tie talking to a friend in a shimmering ball gown.
Someone else sported a 1940s-style floral headscarf, while on the dancefloor a girl was doing the Charleston to the indie band, Captain Black.
Captain Black are signed to the Hawley's own record label, and two of its members worked behind the bar.
"Amy Winehouse and Johnny Borrell," says drummer and barman Mark Austin, when asked which celebrities were regulars.
"I've never once seen Kate Moss in there. I think maybe Pete Doherty went in once. The press overexaggerates it all the time and it gets a bit out of hand."
Borrell, Razorlight's frontman was one of the unannounced special guests at Dingwalls, playing three of his band's crowd-pleasing hits.
Winehouse, meanwhile, kept us guessing as to whether she would turn up. She was not on the bill, but there were hints that she was due to DJ later.
Meanwhile, there were some non-celebrities singing the praises of the pub - and bumping into famous people was a regular draw.
"It was so sociable, everyone there was amazing and really fun. It was somewhere you could sit back and meet people," says one regular, Karen Kavanagh.
Her friend Ellie Henderson adds: "We started going there because we made some friends who lived in Camden. Every so often you'd sit next to someone and get chatting, and it would turn out that they're a TV presenter."
Helsinki, a "collective" fronted by Babyshambles bassist Drew McConnell, headlined the night and were unexpectedly persuasive with their mix of jazz-folk and dirty indie.
Noel Fielding reappeared after their set to introduce the landlord and head barman, and to ask whether anyone had seen the pub's most famous regular.
Commotion
"We wanted to top it off with Winehouse, but I don't think she's here," he says.
She wasn't, but then a while later, once the crowd had thinned, a big black barnet could be spotted at the edge of the room, with a small jazz singer sheltering beneath it.
Winehouse had made it, and was settling in next to the DJ decks, watched over by bodyguards.
But within a matter of minutes a commotion erupted. Winehouse was having a barney with the DJ and being bundled out of the venue, followed by the lurking paparazzi.
Nobody seemed to know what had sparked the argument, but at least she had graced us with her presence. It was for charity, after all.
The so-called "Camden caners", the north London celebrity set, have come out in force for a fundraising concert.But it was not African poverty that was on their minds, nor Aids, nor any other global issue.
It was far more important - a pub.
The word "charity" was banded about a fair bit at the concert in Camden on Thursday.
The Hawley Arms, the famed headquarters of the Camden cool crowd, probably isn't an official charity, though. It's a pub.
But it was ravaged by the fire that hit part of Camden Market six months ago - and the local celebrities want it back.
So they put on a gig at Dingwalls, across the road from the burnt-out site, to raise funds for the pub's reconstruction - and as an excuse for a party.
"It's a blur. It's like a rainbow with Chelsea boots on it."
Noel Fielding is recalling the good times he has had at the Hawley. The Mighty Boosh star was hosting the evening, introducing the acts with his suave, surreal patter.
"It's like a flickbook," he says, mentally thumbing through his memories.
"There's Johnny Borrell. There's Winehouse. There's Kimberly Stewart. There's lots of crazy dancing.
We used to have a garden up the top and I used to run across the ledge in my Chelsea boots. The Ledge of Doom, I called it. They fenced it off because they said: 'You will die and that won't be good publicity.'"I've had loads of good times there." He goes on to describe inventing a pub game that is half darts, half William Tell shooting an apple off the head, but with exotic fruit.
"I had a gun with sticker darts and we were trying to shoot guavas and mangoes off people's heads. It started off as a bit of fun.
"Before we knew what was happening, there were 40 people involved, there was a league system going, it was amazing."
It is hard to know how much is true and how much is in Fielding's fervent imagination, but there is clearly much affection for the place.
"It was an amazing pub, which we all had some great and messy times in," according to Lois Winstone, daughter of actor Ray.
"There's no other places to have a good drink and a good laugh."
Winstone is a singer and her new group, This Year's Model, performed at the fundraiser.
She put on the most visually arresting performance, dressed like a human glitterball in a mirrored bodice, with black velvet gloves, metallic tights and vampish hair.Judging by the crowd, the Hawley's dress code was anything goes, with the swinging set recycling and reinventing fashions from every era.
Outside there was a girl in hot pants, laddered tights, big glasses and a big tie talking to a friend in a shimmering ball gown.
Someone else sported a 1940s-style floral headscarf, while on the dancefloor a girl was doing the Charleston to the indie band, Captain Black.
Captain Black are signed to the Hawley's own record label, and two of its members worked behind the bar.
"Amy Winehouse and Johnny Borrell," says drummer and barman Mark Austin, when asked which celebrities were regulars.
"I've never once seen Kate Moss in there. I think maybe Pete Doherty went in once. The press overexaggerates it all the time and it gets a bit out of hand."
Borrell, Razorlight's frontman was one of the unannounced special guests at Dingwalls, playing three of his band's crowd-pleasing hits.
Winehouse, meanwhile, kept us guessing as to whether she would turn up. She was not on the bill, but there were hints that she was due to DJ later.Meanwhile, there were some non-celebrities singing the praises of the pub - and bumping into famous people was a regular draw.
"It was so sociable, everyone there was amazing and really fun. It was somewhere you could sit back and meet people," says one regular, Karen Kavanagh.
Her friend Ellie Henderson adds: "We started going there because we made some friends who lived in Camden. Every so often you'd sit next to someone and get chatting, and it would turn out that they're a TV presenter."
Helsinki, a "collective" fronted by Babyshambles bassist Drew McConnell, headlined the night and were unexpectedly persuasive with their mix of jazz-folk and dirty indie.
Noel Fielding reappeared after their set to introduce the landlord and head barman, and to ask whether anyone had seen the pub's most famous regular.
Commotion
"We wanted to top it off with Winehouse, but I don't think she's here," he says.
She wasn't, but then a while later, once the crowd had thinned, a big black barnet could be spotted at the edge of the room, with a small jazz singer sheltering beneath it.
Winehouse had made it, and was settling in next to the DJ decks, watched over by bodyguards.
But within a matter of minutes a commotion erupted. Winehouse was having a barney with the DJ and being bundled out of the venue, followed by the lurking paparazzi.
Nobody seemed to know what had sparked the argument, but at least she had graced us with her presence. It was for charity, after all.
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