Trekstock: Live at Proud Galleries, Camden
Words by Sophie Eggleton // Image by the Mofo
Wednesday night saw the latest in a long line of musical events in conjunction with the Teenage Cancer Trust. The events are held under the title of Trekstock and began in 2006 when Sophie Epstone conceived the ingenious idea of putting on a gig to raise money for a trip to Everest she had signed up for. She furthered the initiative by spreading awareness and making the cause’s presence known via various festivals including Glastonbury, Bestival, V Festival, Leeds Festival, The Mighty Boosh Festival, O2 Wireless and Hard Rock Calling and pinning the now cult blue ‘I ♥ Trekstock’ badge on various well known lapels and t-shirts.
Held at Camden’s legendary Proud Galleries, the latest music fest boasted a stellar fun line up which included DJ YODA, Jamie Theaker, Mark Ronson, Dan Greenpeace, Frankmusic and The Cuban Brothers.
The Cuban Brothers delivered their reliably pumped, energetic and frankly hilarious performance, adorned in their outlandish, spangly, and shockingly tight ensembles which were later removed to reveal unusual undergarments. Little was left to the imagination, particularly in conjunction with their thrusts, hip rotations and breakdancing maneuvers.
Mark Ronson played a crowd pleasing mix with songs by the Strokes, and Jay Z amongst some most welcome Motown classics. He was then joined by Daniel Merriweather, who had appeared on Jools Holland’s iconic show the day before. He sang his solo hit ‘Change’ as well as their collaboration ‘Stop Me’, which got loud cheers from the audience, which featured a predictable army of females vying for attention, singing loudly and loitering with intent.
For those that love tabloid fodder and celebrity spotting there were a fair few spots, the strangest perhaps being Big Brother’s Nicki Graham complete with drawn-on cat nose and whiskers. Many recognizable faces frequented the VIP stables with The Gossip’s Beth Ditto reportedly seen enjoying a writhe on one of the poles, other stars willingly posing for publicity photos (many of which were taken by DH favourite, The Mofo) and stocking up on drinks at the bar. Holly Valance (Flic Scully from Neighbours and Kiss Kiss fame) was chatting to Frankmusik, Matt Horne, Henry Holland, Will Young and E4/T4 stars Nick Grimshaw and Rick Edwards were all seen at the bar or being lured into the main room to get down to some boogying with the rest of us. Proud as a venue with its original uneven cobbled flooring always offers amusement in the form of females trying to stay composed and upright as they strut through in their heels (I failed, clumsily and ungraciously stacking it on numerous occasions). Despite the personal calamity, it was a great night - made all the sweeter by the lack of that usual drunken guilty conscience.
Okay, I’ve delivered the shallow news from the event, but please take away something useful and do try and get involved where possible. Every day in the UK, up to 6 teenagers or young adults (between the ages of 13 and 24) will find out they have cancer. That is approximately 2,100 new cases a year. There are always ways in which we can help make this stressful and traumatic time more bearable and comfortable. Head to https://www.teenagecancertrust.org/ to find out about various expeditions, affiliations and events connected to the Teenage Cancer Trust and find out how you can help.
Coming up soon, Trekstock is supporting Camden Rocks, the awesome new 1 day festival on Sat 6th of June across various cool venues in Camden with plenty of amazing acts and special guests in store! Also in the pipeline is a Glastonbury warm up gig by Bloc Party which will take place at the Garage on June 25th. For those interested go on to the bands websites and sign up as a Marshal to get the information needed to nab a ticket.
If you can’t make the events, why not download the Trekstock badge and pop it on your personal websites and help spread the good word......
http://trekstock.com/
http://twitter.com/Trekstock
Posted Mon, May 18, 2009