10/03/11

Camden Town

It’s been a good while since I’d last been up to visit the old haunts in Camden. We met with Steve Jenner CEO of Virtual festivals and manager with Kili-live who runs Rockness and Sonisphere festival among others in the Good Mixer. We then went onto The Dublin Castle. Still hard to believe how little either of these pubs has changed in the last 15 years. Perhaps they are both a little less dirty and maybe a little quieter than days of old but intrinsically they are still the same, although a lot of Camden has changed around them. Many of the local landmarks have gone, such as the Parkway Bar and the pet and reptile shop that used to dominate that street during the 90’s. The entire building housing the Fusileer and Firkin pub has disappeared entirely. Gap, H&M and American Apparel have all appeared along the High Street as the genericism that pervades so many town centres that once were vibrant and unique slowly creeps its tendrils over the area, gradually choking any individualism there may have once been. I wonder what, if any, is Camden’s cultural relevance now. Perhaps this current corporate saturation makes the period that is addressed in ‘For Tomorrow’, even more meaningful. It is set on the advent of this, just before the bubble completely burst. I find it sad that, as tends to happen with any ‘in’ thing or place, the movers and shakers generally vacate when everyone else cottons onto the trend and in flock the wannabes and tourists. It reminds me of that old Groucho Marx quote about not wanting to belong to a club that would accept him as a member. Still, I admire The Good Mixer and Dublin Castle’s reluctance to cash in on the theme park Camden has become. As Steve, pointed out, they could be packed all day and all night, doing a roaring trade in Britpop memorabilia.