Hawley Arms, Camden, London
The Hawley Arms, Camden, London - Friday 8th August 2025
Sometimes in a band’s career there are some gig offers that come your way that you just HAVE to accept, for many and varied reasons. To play at The Hawley Arms in Camden was one of those.
The lovely promoter had seen us play at The Marquis in Covent Garden a few weeks before and really wanted to get us on at The Hawley Arms. She normally puts on indie / alternative nights there and although she didn’t think we would quite fit with that, she said she would get us on at The Hawley on another night. She said she was leaving soon for pastures new but she would make sure to get us a gig before she left.
She kept her word.
The date was set. It was this or nothing. Short notice but we made it work. We had to really. The Hawley Arms is synonymous with Amy Winehouse from when she lived nearby, it was also the setting for the infamous Baby Reindeer programme. It’s fair to say the pub has history. This was potentially our only chance to play there.
Eddie picks me up on the day, a couple of us need to get there early to greet the soundman and show willing before the others can get there.
We arrive in very good time, lug all that we have upstairs and are greeted by fabulous soundman Alex. We explain that some of the band might not get there in time for a full soundcheck before they want to open the upstairs bar (6.30pm) which Alex is very cool and laid back about. He tells us it’s not a problem, we will do what we can. He then proceeds to set up all the vocal microphones superbly. We like Alex. He’s very relaxed.
Eddie and I are set up and ready to go as the rest of the band all arrive. We ask Alex if it’s cool to run a couple of songs as a soundcheck even though the bar is now open and it’s starting to fill up. He says it’s fine. We run a couple of songs, telling the already amassed audience not to listen. After a couple of vocal tweaks we’re done. We retire upstairs to the green room briefly before returning to the bar to greet people we know who have come to see us. There’s a few scattered amongst the crowd.
Then, it’s show time.
This is one of those gigs where the chaos and energy of the room far outweighs the need for us to play note perfect. That’s not to say that we’re sloppy, far from it. We’re just having a lot of fun. So are the crowd too. The crowd sings along, there’s dancing a plenty and very soon the room becomes a hot sweaty mass of people with smiling faces. Eddie even falls over Ted’s drum kit.
Half time comes and we mingle with the crowd. There’s a couple of guys here who have been following us online and have made the effort to come and check us out. They’re really enjoying what we do. They’re big rock ‘n’ roll fans and love our mixture of rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly, skiffle, 60’s girl groups. They say it’s nice to see and hear something different. I personally am pretty chuffed with that. People who make a proper effort to come and check us out and then get what we’re all about is very humbling. We sell CD’s in the break too. Another thing that really touches me, when people want to part with their hard-earned cash for our music.
Set 2 goes off with a bang as more people fill the room (including a group of 60’s dolled up Instagram influencers). The place is literally buzzing. Such a great venue with a great atmosphere. We’re exhausted as set 2 comes to a close but the crowd won’t let us leave, we just about have time for one more song so we squeeze in another. What a buzz!
The next morning we receive an email from the promoter “The Hawley staff have all been very complimentary about last night. I'm so glad it all went well for you and the night was a success. I will pass your details on to my successor who may be in touch about another booking for you there. Meanwhile, my nights are highly successful, so we would like to continue on that basis elsewhere and I'm also extending my services to include booking bands for events and venues, therefore I will be in contact with you again soon to see if you would be interested in collaborating again on a booking basis. Once again, thanks for playing for me”.
That’s a win-win as far as we’re concerned. A great night that will most likely lead on to more. Well worth making the effort.
Lucky