Saturday and Sunday sees a veritable Bayeaux Tapestry of pop culture parading through London’s famous Camden Town. From Mods to Goths and beyond, the history of youth culture lives anew every weekend.
This new walking tour captures the spirit, the history and the music of Camden Town.
Camden’s connection to pop and rock music is so great that it is the location of London’s first Walk Of Fame. The Who, Soul2Soul, Madness, and Billy Bragg are among the musicians honoured at the English rock ‘n’ roll equivalent of Hollywood’s sidewalk of stars. During this new tour, we’ll follow part of the Walk Of Fame’s route.
The arrogant swagger of Britpop will come into vivid focus, along with the filth and the fury of its older cousin Punk – The Clash were just one of the 70s bands to make Camden Town their own. North London’s finest, Madness, will feature prominently. And the queen of Camden, Amy Winehouse, will take centre stage.
The wonderful photorealistic street art portrait of Amy Winehouse on the wall of the Hawley Arms Pub – we’ll visit this spot on the tour
Our Rock’n’Roll Camden Playlist will include…
Rock
Punk
Ska
Indie
Blur
Madness
The Clash
Pink Floyd
The Ramones
Patti Smith
Amy Winehouse
As usual with one of Adam’s London music tours, he loves to look beyond the music. He’ll analyse the changing face of Camden Market, a magnet for visitors from all over the world. Camden’s industrial past looms large in the area’s story and he’ll deal with that, too.
Happy London Walkers from the U.S on a private tour of Rock’n’Roll Camden
At the end of the tour we’ll be right in the heart of Camden Town, well-placed to visit the markets and record shops that we’ve located along the way.
It’s All In The Timing
You will notice we’re experimenting with an early start time for the Rock’n’Roll Camden tour – 9 a.m. We’re doing this for a number or reasons.
Camden, as you well know, is one of the most popular destinations in London, especially at the weekend. The thinking behind the start time of 9am is that we’ll get a little bit of peace-and-quiet to get a good look at everything we need to see. What’s more, by the time we’re finished, the market will just be hotting up and all the record shops will be opening. So you’ll get a good tour and the benefit of the Camden atmosphere at tour’s end. Best of both worlds!
Stan Markiewicz –
You don’t have to be a punk rocker to enjoy this tour. Adam (in the tradition of all the great London Walks’ guides) will tailor the subject matter to his audience. The purposeful early time works like a charm. You will see the sights before the Goths invade and get a feel for the Camdem Market target audience. The tour ends at Camden Town station, so if you don’t like what you see; you can catch the tube and head to Portobello Road.
Sean Tighe –
I’ve enjoyed London Walks in the past so came to this with high expectations! I was not disappointed. Adam greeted our group at the allotted time and place on time and ready to go. This was an “early” start, 9:00AM at Camden Market to have some time to tour before the summer crowds amassed, and to end the tour in time to join the lively atmosphere and offerings of the market. Great idea! Adam has an infectious personality, enhanced by his passion and knowledge of the historic music scene in and around Camden Market. The curated tour, with the entertaining moderating makes this so enjoyable. If I sound effusive, mission accomplished. His tour is infused with music on his Marshall speaker and it just adds to the experience. Honestly, if you have any interest in learning the music history of Camden Market, there should be no hesitation, just go do it!
Sue –
Another well curated tour by Adam. Efficient start and friendly welcome. The 0900 KO ensured that we had Camden to ourselves for a couple of hours, so that we could move freely about and see sites easily. From Amy to The Kinks, via Clash and Madness, we had them all and we were accompanied by music from Adam’s new device, to add to the scene.
Adam passed on local information beyond the music scene, making this a tour for everyone. He ensured that at the end of the tour, we all knew how to get to our next destination. Brilliant walk, so just book it & set the alarm clock.