An inaugural celebration of indie, one day festival TiffCuff took part in Camden’s iconic Roundhouse, bringing together Indie stalwarts as well as a number of up and coming bands.
The Roundhouse venue was buzzing with headliners performing on the main stage and the smaller studio area the intimate setting for discovering new talent.
These included the energetic Shelf Lives who brought a high octane, edgy punk sound to their tongue in cheek lyrics and powerful guitar riffs, memorably poking fun of female stereotypes with their track Skirts & Salads ‘All gold teeth I like my girls like that’, to the crowd’s clear amusement in their afternoon set warming up proceedings.
On the main stage Newcastle’s The Pale White got the Roundhouse rocking with their crushing guitars and thunderous bass. North London band Spector were next on the bill, and it was clear the crowd were ready to cheer on their local favourites.
At one point the bellowing back of their catchy lyrics by the crowd caused frontman Fred Macpherson to declare he didn’t have a tear in his eye.
The effervescent lead singer had the audience in the palm of his hand as he always does in their emphatic sets, at one point commenting that he was distracted by an attractive man at the front of the crowd who “ Looks like a doctor on television”, and telling us that he had been in a wedding in Golders Green the other guests unaware that he would be performing at the Roundhouse later- until he told them.
Old favourites such as Wild Guess were energetically welcomed, as was new single The Notion which was being recorded at the venue and Fred added would be available to watch on You Tube very soon.
This was a preview to their long anticipated new studio album Here Come the Early Nights which is released in November, and is supported by tour including a date at the intimate Electric Brixton.
Headliners and Indie favourites The Cribs rounded off the festival fantastically with a crowd pleasing set that featured all of their classics as well as songs deep from their impressive back catalogue that are played less often.
Twin brothers Ryan and Gary Jarman shared vocal duties and spoke excitedly in their distinctive dry Wakefield tones about how they had visited the Freddie Mercury exhibit in Sotheby’s earlier that day, in their own words a very Cribs thing to do.
In the Neon Night from their most recent album was given its live debut and It Happened so Fast was dedicated to Camden icon Amy Winehouse, a friend and supporter of the band.
Crowd pleaser Men’s Needs and Pink Snow capped off the set, a highly appropriate and frenetic end to the festival.