Camden – Fooyah – Ian Parish

May 25 2026May 25 2026

Chez Kane – The Underworld

It was one of the hottest days of the year (so far) when I took the train to Camden Town. I had options for travel and I could have tried a newer method into the big smoke parking at Greenwich North and then tubing it for the peninsula. On the day, though, I decided to stick to super fast travel from slightly closer to home and I used the Javelin train from Ebbsfleet. My thought process was mainly that the train was more likely to have air conditioning than the tube line and I could also walk from St Pancras to Camden and enjoy the sights and sounds of the city.

I was attending this gig because Dave, the photographer, had mentioned it. After a short perusal of videos on YouTube I decided it might be a laugh and Smith came along too. The Underworld itself was lovely and cool very much unlike when we saw Combichrist there a few years ago. The crowd was definitely older than most other gigs I have been to recently but that matched the music style really – 80 cock rock.

First band on were a local band made from regulars to the Underworld. Steff Voxx played pretty decent heavy rock. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and they played well together, just what you would expect with a bunch of seasoned rockers like that.

Star Circus were the second band on and they played a solid set. Pretty much all of the music would be described as “rock”. There wasn’t really much metal but I enjoyed their set. Also, the singer/guitarist was a lefty and I have to appreciate that. The bassist is the latest in a long line of female bassists I admire.

Headliners were Chez Kane. That is the name of the singer and the rest were “her band”. If you look at the picture and feel you’ve been transported forty years into the past then don’t worry. It really was like that. The songs had a warm 80s feel to them and Chez explained that she was deliberately keeping that sound going, the songs of the 80s inspired her and she loved it. I can’t argue with that. The whole evening was nicely enjoyable. I went home with songs by Kenny Logins and Vixen running through my head.

May 8 2026

Smash Into Pieces – Electric Ballroom, Camden

I spent a school night recently in the big smoke. I took a train from Ebbsfleet International Station to north-ish London and then tubed it to Camden Town. The reason for travel was to watch a few bands at the Electric Ballroom. I had a nice, but expensive, burger for dinner. I also bought two drinks and that came in at more than GBP20 in The Worlds’ End, I know I’m old but this seemed very expensive, I miss the days of drinks in the Officers’ Mess. The Electric Ballroom was a new venue to me and I liked it. There was plenty of space, the bars were large and one of them was sheltered around a corner, you could escape easily.

First up were Dark Divine, a band from Florida which isn’t their fault I guess. I enjoyed their music. The singer was a good frontman and worked the crowd well. They genuinely seemed to be enjoying themselves. The music was standard metal. The usual singer with a good voice doing growly stuff and the guitarist sand the deep growl. The lead singer was chatty with the crowd and really seemed to be enjoying the whole show so that was nice.

Second band was Enemy Inside which was our main reason for attending this gig.

I enjoyed their show. I felt it was, again, pretty standard metal. It was good fun although part way through I needed to move to the bar so I could rest my back. The damn muscles in my lower back have been painful for about two weeks now and standing watching a show was not helping. Enemy Inside were good enough for me to seek out their music on iTunes and pay for some albums. I’ll put it on when I’m working.

The headliners were Smash Into Pieces. Smith and I weren’t that bothered about watching them but we stayed for a couple of songs. To be honest it was nice to have an evening out and still get home at a sensible time which meant I wasn’t absolutely fucked for work the next day. Yes, I understand that makes me old, but that’s where we are in this life so far.

Smash Into Pieces seemed reasonably heavy to start. The guitars were pretty cool. But I have some observations. . . . The drummer wears a mask – whoopee do, seen it before. Some people in the crowd thought it was really cool. I didn’t care particularly. The light show was pretty cool with lasers and shit, again the youngsters seemed impressed. The singers voice was really weird. I did not like it. It grated. I listened to some songs when I got home to see what the rest of their produce was like and it was a lot more keyboardy and less heavy. The singers voice still grated and that’s a big no-no for me. It’s a bit like Muse – I’ve tried to listen to their stuff, really tried and I should like it – but I can’t cope with the voice. This band’s live voice was not good. Maybe he’s having a bad night but it was poor.

Overall, I had a good evening. Good company, Smith, nice food in my current dieting time of life and a couple of bands I really enjoyed in a new venue, in bed before midnight. Worth it.

April 30 2017April 11 2019

Butterfly Display

I met up last night with two friends whom I have known for ages. Smith I have known since I was a kid and Jimbo I met while we were in the Air Cadets together. Oddly both went to the same school as me but they were in different year groups. You didn’t mix with other year groups in school in those days. On the matter of friendship I am currently in touch with no-one from my friends at school and I am not bothered by this fact [why should I be?].

We met in Green Park and I noticed all the anti-terrorist barriers and it saddened me slightly. It is such a shame that politicians and those we think are in charge believe they have to adjust the beauty and freedom of the city for our safety.

First drink was in the Running Horse Tavern at 128 Piccadilly. It was a nice atmosphere there and busier than I expected. I think we lowered the average age of patrons though.

Feeling hungry and wanting spice food, dinner was partaken at Masala Zone in Camden Town. It was one of the first times I really looked at the artwork on the walls, some of it was beautiful.

Happy fun times. pic.twitter.com/6am3JUr6VV

— Ian Parish (@iparish) April 29, 2017

Although you can spend a whole evening in a curry house that doesn’t mean that you should. We walked the very short distance to the World’s End pub. A heavy metal pub with curious art work including a collection of butterflies mounted and displayed proudly on the wall.

I like heavy metal even though my tastes have evolved over time but sometimes, when you want to chat, loud music is a little obnoxious. So a walk down towards Mornington Crescent was required.

We attended the Lyttleton Arms for a while. It’s a nice pub. A few years back I did shots in there with my niece. But, the pub had an 80s disco playing. Too loud for comfortable chatter. Which is a shame. Another move required.

The Cobden Arms proved to be a sanctuary of calm and quiet. No music or if there was I didn’t notice it. We spent time here chatting before walking back to the transport hub of 51°31’49″N 0°07’27″W.