Camden (2024) s01e01 Episode Script

1
Camden just seemed like the centre
of all things.
It was just the best place to be.
It's got a heartbeat. It's got a vibe.
It's got an energy to it.
The backdrop is basically very derelique.
Bit intense, but it had this energy.
It's, like, sort of a shithole really.
Grubby and lawless.
But so full of life and vibes and culture
and, in my case, music.
All those greats that have been here.
Anyone from Jimi Hendrix
Yeah, Soul II Soul.
- The Who
- Prince.
Amy Winehouse.
I don't think you'll find
a single record store in Camden
that doesn't have an Amy record.
Camden was one of the first
places that sort of seemed plugged-in
to, you know, what people were doing,
especially in the world of clubbing.
Faithless. This is a classic.
If you wanted to be in a rock band
or you had any interest in rock music,
this is where it came from.
I had a great
few years here. Really loved it.
Just pubs, drinking Guinness,
fucking talking shit.
Camden was the ultimate Mecca for misfits.
It was like living in
a sort of subculture,
but in the middle of London.
Everything I know,
most certainly,
about morality and melody,
loyalty and love, I've learnt here.
It's such a judgement-free zone.
You could definitely play around
with your identity.
And it was all Camden's fault.
It all happened in Camden.
A place like Camden
is a sort of crucible of acceptance.
Watching it all unfold
like some glorious spectacle.
This is where it's at, man.
Music being such
a big part of my life,
never for once did I ever think
that this was gonna be my reality.
If you wanna run away with me
I know a galaxy ♪
And I can take you for a ride ♪
The GRAMMY goes to Dua Lipa.
Glitter in the sky, glitter in my eyes
Shining just the way I like ♪
If we turn right here
I got you, moonlight
You're my starlight ♪
Turning close to where I used to live.
Come on, dance with me
I'm levitating ♪
You, moonlight
You're my starlight ♪
To get to this place where I am now
seemed as unrealistic as a cartoon on TV.
So this is Castlehaven Road,
and that's the little balcony.
The first one. There.
Lived there when I was
about ten years old.
It did feel like something unreachable.
Yeah, this is really my home.
I'm levitating ♪
30,000 refugees
have sought refuge in this central town.
But even here, they're not safe.
Everywhere are the signs
of a vicious civil war.
My parents left Kosovo
because of the war in Yugoslavia in '92.
My parents came to London,
and they were working in different bars
and restaurants and clubs.
So we're about, I mean,
a hundred metres away
from Camden Market and the Lock.
My dad was a musician
in a rock band in Kosovo.
When we moved to London,
and they decided to live in Camden.
I think it was just, like, a very natural
place where they felt at home.
I mean,
right now we're on the canal in Camden,
so we're pretty much
right in the middle of it.
I just have these really vivid memories.
My dad used to work at a bar
called Bartok.
There's a little Chinese takeaway
next door.
And when my dad would work in the bar,
I would sit in the office upstairs,
and I would get a Chinese takeaway
and just kinda sit.
So this part here on the right
is all Camden Market,
and then you've got Barfly,
and you have Roundhouse.
I mean, at the Roundhouse,
all the big rock stars played.
The Stones, the Ramones, Clash.
Down on the left,
at the very bottom, you've got KOKO,
which is where
Madonna did her first shows.
Prince played there.
Grace Jones played there.
That was when it was Camden Palace.
And you've got the Jazz Cafe as well.
And then Electric Ballroom.
The Clash played there.
Prince played there.
And right here, we're at Dingwalls,
which is where so many
incredible club nights happened, and, uh
Blondie played here.
What's interesting about Camden is, like,
I name all these places,
but they're all so close together.
There's just so many little spots,
and then there's constantly
little open mic nights all around.
Then there's this kind of, like,
nonconforming energy.
This vibrant, "I don't give a fuck.
This is who I am" feeling.
I think it's just a very powerful thing
to, kind of, grow up around.
Well, I grew up in the countryside
in the south-west of England,
about three hours drive from London.
London itself was, kind of,
you know, the Emerald City.
And then being so in love with music,
Camden just seemed like
the centre of all things.
The first band I ever loved was
a band called James from Manchester.
And, in 1997, James were doing
a secret show in Dingwalls,
and somehow I got in.
I'll sing myself to sleep ♪
A song from the darkest hour ♪
Secrets I can't ♪
That's the first time
I'd ever seen a band that I loved,
or even anyone I'd seen on TV,
in the flesh.
Swing from high to deep ♪
And I think it was
a real epiphany about,
"Oh, these are just people.
This is achievable
if you just work really hard
and the right twists of fate happen."
'Cause the kid in me thought
they came from Mars.
It was so out of reach.
Now I've swung back down again ♪
It's worse than it was before ♪
But Tim Booth was right here.
And I was like, "Oh, okay.
I'm gonna do that job."
Oh, sit down
Oh, sit down ♪
Oh, sit down ♪
Sit down next to me ♪
Sit down, down, down, down, down ♪
In sympathy ♪
We are in, uh,
Camden Road. We're the Coldplay.
Come on through. I'll show you.
- There goes Guy.
And then I moved to Camden.
Myself and Jonny, our guitarist.
And it just seemed like a very liberal
and open-minded place,
that if you felt
you had something artistic in you,
you would be accepted there.
For a band like us,
the Camden scene
was about six venues at that time. Pubs.
If you could guarantee you'd bring,
like, ten people, they'd let you play.
And almost every night, in at least
five places, there was three slots.
An advertisement for it would appear
in the Melody Maker or the NME.
So it felt like,
"Wow, I'm in the music scene."
And it was accessible.
You didn't have to have an agent.
You didn't have to really have a fan base.
You didn't have to really show
that you were good.
So Camden was, like, for us, at least,
like a rocket launch pad.
Camden Town.
Let me tell you about Camden Town.
Has that beer arrived yet, Peggy?
I've been behind bars for over 60 years.
I'm 48 years here, you know?
My mum is 85 years old,
and she still runs the show.
I'm 55 years old at the moment,
and I'm still working with my mum.
It was mostly Irish
when I was young, this bit of Camden.
And then as you go down to
Mornington Crescent, it was Greek Cypriot.
So you had this great combination
for a young man
of lock-ins in pubs and kebabs.
For people with not very much money,
it was heaven.
It was very poor then.
There were squats all over the place.
There was people
who'd dropped out of society
often in the very clothes
they'd dropped out in.
So there was a guy called the Shroud
in full undertaker's gear.
He used to be bowling up and down.
And there was the Captain
in full naval regalia,
ranting orders to people
outside the Co-op.
Coming in here,
you could have been in Cork, or--
You know,
it was just full of Irish people,
and the whole vibe was Irish,
and there'd be music going on every night.
They did like a drink.
They did like music.
They did like dancing.
And they did like laughing
and romance and poetry.
So all these things
were completely intertwined.
The Irish community
had their Irish bands every weekend,
but the demographics
were changing in town.
So my dad thought,
"It's getting quieter and quieter,
and I have to shake it up a bit."
So, these 17- and 18-year-olds
came in looking for a gig.
Now, what is it you want?
Well, we're in a group,
and we'd like to play here.
We trawled all around Camden
trying to find a gig,
and this pub
was just slightly off the main drag.
So it was this, sort of, last chance.
And what sort of music?
And we thought,
"We'll say country and western,
'cause it's probably gonna go down better
with an Irish crowd."
And then I think Woody at the back
helpfully chipped in with,
"And a bit of jazz."
We do a bit of everything, really.
We do a bit of this, a bit of jazz.
And I better ask you now,
what do you call yourselves?
Madness.
Madness?
Madness?
Yeah. Madness.
Dad said, "Come down Wednesday night,
and we'll see how you get on."
And they packed us out on Wednesday night.
One step beyond ♪
I remember being in the back bar,
and I remember
peeping over the counter at,
you know, at these young skinheads.
One step beyond ♪
They got another Wednesday night.
Then they got the residency.
And as each Wednesday went on,
there was queues outside.
And my dad was loving it.
What was it there?
75 pence to get in here.
So I think we used to get
about a fiver each.
I remember one night
I put my foot through the monitor,
and that was 40 quid,
so we all went home skint.
It was rewarding. Suddenly, you go,
"Jesus! I've never done anything
in my life that actually was rewarding."
It was all just a waste of time.
School, an apprentice butcher,
an apprentice painter and decorator.
But, suddenly,
being in that room making music,
suddenly, it became rewarding
doing something, concentrating,
rather than just being an idiot.
One step beyond ♪
That was our break.
Because we had a residency,
it meant that people knew
that we were gonna be here,
and slowly you start to build up
a following
until there was a queue around the block.
And then the record company
comes past and goes,
"Flippin' heck.
There's something happening here."
One step beyond ♪
Thanks for that.
Madness were the best thing ever for us,
because lots of other bands said,
"Hey, you know,
maybe that's the place to be."
When we played the Dublin Castle,
I think it was February the 20th,
or something like that, 1998.
That was the night
we were first called Coldplay.
We were sharing a drum kit
with the headliner,
but somehow
they fell out with the promoter,
so they took their drum kit away
at, like, 7:00 p.m.
I've got an idea.
We haven't got the bass drum.
Why don't I stamp my foot?
I didn't think of that. What a great idea!
And so we played this show where
Will played the stage as the bass drum.
It was when I first knew, like,
"Oh, the four of us
are gonna stick together."
Because we could have easily said,
"Oh, we can't play."
So it was a really formative place,
the Dublin Castle.
Every time I walk past it,
I get this wave of warmth and gratitude,
'cause they gave everybody a shot.
We had The Killers playing
in the back room.
It was 2003, and I wasn't here that night.
Coldplay and The Darkness.
Madness.
The Libertines.
Blur.
Billy Bragg. Babyshambles.
I can't remember them all.
The Polecats. Babybird.
The Arctic Monkeys were here.
They got signed here in the back room.
It was absolutely crammed.
Do you know Amy Winehouse?
She used to hop inside here, you know?
And help herself if she wanted a drink.
Of course, Amy Winehouse.
But Madness really kicked it off.
The people who ran this pub--
When we wanna talk about tolerance
in Camden Town,
they didn't care, you know?
We were a bunch of yobboes.
Know what I mean? They said, "It's fine.
As long as you don't cause any trouble.
You can make a bit of a racket
out the back."
We'd get the kids out of their bedrooms
and out of their garages and onto a stage,
often for the very first time.
Often they'd play to an empty room.
But a lot of the time,
those kids get it right.
Wherever you are in the world,
Coldplay will come on,
or The Darkness will come on,
or Snow Patrol, or Blur, or Amy.
And you think
"There you go.
They played in my back bar."
- I look ugly, Nicky.
Don't--
Yeah, look at you. You look lovely.
I don't. My chin's massive.
I genuinely-- From the moment
I heard her voice and met her,
I was completely convinced.
I had no doubt
she was the best of the best.
The big record at the time
was The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
Not long after, I heard Amy's demo.
And I remember instantly just going,
"This is as good as Lauryn Hill.
If not better."
And so I was like,
"Whatever I do,
I have to work with this artist."
Hi.
What's going on?
The first deal we did
was a publishing deal,
and she got, like,
a really good chunk of money.
So she suddenly had a cheque,
and that's when she was like,
"Right, I'm gonna buy a flat
and move to Camden."
And then a whole new thing opened up.
My turn! My turn!
Her idea of a good night out
would be to see someone live
Oh, what a shot!
maybe go play some pool,
have a cocktail or two,
go back, roll a spliff,
play music till 2:00, 3:00 in the morning
and probably not get up
till lunchtime the next day.
'Cause of her character,
we'd all gravitate around her,
so that flat became a place
where we would be a lot of the time.
And most of that time was just fun
and happy and brilliant.
Here we go. And
Um, the next single should be out
on March-- mid-March.
Okay, action!
Hang on.
The first record did well
and it was respected,
but it wasn't full of hit songs.
Cut!
And maybe it hadn't fulfilled her
the way she was hoping
it would fulfil her.
That was the moment
where this void opened up.
And, like, as an artist,
I think she wanted to be seen
as someone
a little bit more exciting and edgy.
Camden, actually, at that point,
was probably a very dangerous place
for someone like her
at that moment in time to live.
She started to go out to the pubs.
The drink maybe turned into a line.
In some ways,
that's the drinking anyone under a table.
That's the "I can do more drugs.
I can be more wild.
I can be more dangerous."
She got lost in it.
Live from Camden Crawl.
- Are you ready for the two days of mayhem?
- Oh, yes.
Here it is then. Camden, North London.
Home to some of the finest music venues
in all of the UK.
It's the Camden Crawl.
Steve Lamacq
at the start of the Camden Crawl.
These two days of gigs in North London,
one of the biggest
urban-based festivals in Britain.
It's a bit of an institution. It's turning
into the London South by South West.
No one trying to bunk in the back or hide
in the ladies' toilets or anything.
It's just not like it used to be.
The Camden Crawl was genius,
and it was very wild.
A bit of reggae, a little bit of Indie.
Ooh! There's a bit of fucking dance.
- Whoo!
So many bands on,
but they're all on at the same time.
It's just really exciting that places
we love that are Camden landmarks,
like the Dublin,
- mean so much to all of us.
- Yeah.
My mate said, "Oh, there's a rumour
that Amy Winehouse is playing
at the Dublin Castle."
She was already
a bit of a legend around here.
So I came in, and Henry was at the bar.
And I was really
not intending to have a mad one.
And then, of course,
"Well, when's she on?"
We have come to see Amy.
However, we're a bit--
It's too packed out there. So we're gonna
chill out here, see what happens.
I'm gonna see Pete!
Pete Doherty and Amy.
It all happened at the same time.
I'm outside the secret gig place
for Babyshambles today.
Pete's fucking God!
How did it go last night?
It was really good. I was a bit late.
Absolutely rammed it.
Yeah, it was. It was amazing.
It was amazing.
Amy was magical. Absolutely magical.
You really felt
it was such a special moment.
The stage is so tiny.
With the whole audience,
and we were all cramped up. It was wicked.
Camden Town was wild,
and Pete and Amy were big players in that.
Would you say
you'd be staying in Camden
for the rest of your life?
I love Camden. I always will.
I always will love Camden.
And, um, I don't-- I don't see me
going anywhere in the near future.
- Good.
- It's proper here.
I moved back to Kosovo at the age of 11.
I was very excited to move back to Kosovo.
And I was like,
"I've got lots of family there,"
and, you know,
it'll be a different experience.
But I think it was really, kind of,
one of those things where I was like,
"I wanna be in a place
where everything's happening."
In Camden.
Now we're coming up to,
really, the thick of it.
I wanna be in Camden.
I wanna be with my friends.
I wanna be making music.
All these leather jackets are so good.
I used to love coming to find
a really old, used, vintage jacket.
My friend got her tongue pierced
I just didn't feel like I had
those opportunities in Kosovo.
There you go.
You got all the punks with the piercings.
And I would get fascinated,
and I'd ask them,
"How do you get your hair
to stick up like that?"
They'd be like, "Soap."
That's how they do it.
When I moved back to London, I was 15.
Oh, you got the all-you-can-eat buffet,
but the dragon--
See, you always remember
those little things.
I was sharing a flat with a girl
who was also coming from Kosovo,
but she was older than me.
She was studying.
Camden Market, through there--
This was actually-- That's the apartment,
and that's the window
I was sitting outside of
when I recorded my first YouTube cover.
We're recording in Camden.
I'm Dua. I'm 15 years old,
and I'm gonna be singing
"Super Duper Love" by Joss Stone.
My best friend, Sarah, filmed them for me,
and we did them in her, like,
first boyfriend's house,
and he had, like, a little studio set up.
There was a little window
where when you opened it,
you basically looked out
onto The Hawley Arms.
Hey. This is Dua.
This is my third cover,
which I'm gonna be putting on YouTube.
And I'm gonna be singing "Mama Do"
by Pixie Lott.
I think there's something in the air
in Camden
that just gives you some kind of,
like, courage to give it a go.
And I thought, you know,
if I started putting videos online,
then people can see that I like to sing,
or maybe someone might find them.
- One
- Two, three, go!
And it went from
those little videos on YouTube
to me then, kind of, reworking certain,
like, rap songs,
and putting them on SoundCloud.
And then I put it on Twitter,
and then I had, like,
different producers had found it
on Twitter and were like,
"Hey, if you ever wanna work together,
then, you know, we can do something."
Camden was, kind of,
the starting point that led
to this kind of series of events
that got me here, I guess.
That just killed it.
- That just killed it.
- Whoo!
As soon as we did our first gig,
I was like, "Okay.
All right. This is allowed."
And then, I'd say it was a bit like
the tide coming in,
joining that music scene,
'cause you'd feel, like,
this big advance. "Oh, we got a show."
"Oh, well. No one came.
We've filled this up
but people were talking.
Tonight we can play The Falcon,
which is a bit bigger
than the Dublin Castle.
Maybe in the summer we can play Dingwalls,
which is twice the size."
"A scout came down,
but they didn't sign us."
The first gig by Coldplay
that I went along to see,
along with a lot of other A & R people,
was at the Bull & Gate.
That's good.
All right, guitar.
People told me,
"This guy's got a great voice.
It's got elements of Radiohead in there
and elements of Jeff Buckley."
So I was like, "This is exciting."
You would hear rumours
about A & R scouts.
"We heard that there might be someone
from Universal records down here today."
And, of course, they never were.
But then, occasionally, it was real.
And suddenly there'd be a buzz
about someone and they might get signed,
so it was sort of like an indie X Factor.
You could maybe get
a hundred people in there.
For a hot gig, you would be squeezing
to get the door open.
For that song, is that all right?
It became clear
at about 7:00 p.m.
that all of the record companies
were gonna come,
'cause a load of young
to middle-aged white dudes
on cocaine and drinking beer showed up.
But all in, like, this A & R uniform,
all wearing cargo pants and dark greens.
Like, sort of anoraks--
I guess, a bit like Oasis dressed. A bit.
Sort of brown Hush Puppies,
that kind of thing.
They looked like a tribe, which they were.
'Cause they all were friends
with each other.
They all would compete
for the same artists.
That's Chris. Lead singer.
Being a talent scout,
an A & R person in the music industry,
it's exciting and thrilling.
You're doing this thing
that you've always wanted to do,
and it can all end tomorrow.
"Have you found anyone?
Oh, yeah. You have?"
You've got one rung up the ladder
in the fact that you've actually
discovered somebody.
Two rungs up, you've discovered somebody
that got signed to your company.
And then, woof. You're right up the ladder
when you've signed somebody
to the company,
and they're having a hit record.
And so we loved the music.
We loved the job.
And we were terrified
that we were gonna get whacked.
- Right. This is called "Shiver".
Well, I look in your direction ♪
But you pay me no attention, do you? ♪
I don't know. I had this strange
mixture of absolute belief and insecurity,
and, uh, we did our thing.
Did you want me to change? ♪
Well, I'd change for good ♪
And I want you to know ♪
What struck me is
that you had Chris Martin,
who's clearly
a very charismatic young man,
blessed with a truly remarkable voice.
Don't you shiver ♪
Shiver ♪
I think we all came away thinking,
"There's something there.
This is pretty good.
That guy can really sing."
I'll sing it loud and clear ♪
There were a couple of songs
that showed promise,
but I didn't feel that they had any hits
right at the start.
Yeah, I'll always be waiting for you ♪
They then did a deal with Parlophone.
And it's you, I hear ♪
So loud and so clear ♪
It was really appropriate
that we basically got signed
800 metres from where we played
the first show
in what was, actually,
a really short span of time,
but it felt like we'd climbed
all of the ladders within Camden.
What felt like going from playing
in a car park
to playing Wembley Stadium,
but was actually from playing
one small pub to one bigger pub.
We'll see you soon.
That felt like, you know,
we'd completed that level.
About a year later,
I was with my wife,
and we were driving through
the Isle of Wight
and "Yellow" came on the radio
for the first time.
Look at the stars ♪
And it was just like "Oh, my God",
and we pulled the car over
and just sat, listened to it.
Absolutely remarkable.
Yeah, they were all yellow ♪
And that's how I didn't get Coldplay.
I didn't realise what they were.
Your skin ♪
Oh, yeah
Your skin and bones ♪
But there's gonna be somebody else.
Oh, wow. That's the big one.
Can I get you guys
any teas or coffees or anything?
Um, I've got one, but I think--
Lorna, you'd like a cup of tea, right?
I'd love a peppermint, if you've got one.
It really took me, um,
a little bit of time to just find myself,
you know?
As I was, kind of, getting into the studio
and learning about who I was,
how I like to tell my stories
how I like to write,
and what my sound essentially was.
- Is it all set up in the booth?
I think sometimes in an industry
that's so dominated by men,
you feel like you have to,
like, I don't know,
that you have to fight to really be heard.
Oh, that's better.
Let's go through it once,
and I'll tell you where it starts.
"Hotter Than Hell" was kind of the song
that really started everything for me.
Yeah. Work it, work it.
Then I got signed on the back of that.
It was my first top ten in the UK.
It was very exciting.
And that was one of those moments.
That-- That moment where you're just like,
"I never wanna go back
to working in a restaurant."
I just wanna do this forever.
I know it's hot ♪
I know we've got ♪
Something that money can't buy ♪
Fighting in fits ♪
Biting your lip ♪
Loving till late in the night ♪
Tell me I'm too crazy
You can't tame me, can't tame me ♪
Tell me I have changed
But I'm the same me, old same me ♪
Inside ♪
If you don't like the way I talk
Then why am I on your mind? ♪
If you don't like the way I rock
Then finish your glass of wine ♪
We fight and we argue
You'll still love me blind ♪
If we don't fuck this whole thing up
Guaranteed, I can blow your mind ♪
So I grew up in North London,
and I was just drawn to Camden.
It felt like the only place
in North London that had, like,
this sense of vibrancy, I guess.
Me again
Allow me to pick up where I left off ♪
The biggest phenomenon
And I'm Picasso with the pen ♪
Niggas always talk shit
Until I hit them with the realness ♪
- Little Simz, GREY Area.
I remember turning, like, 17,
and I was begging my sister, like,
"Please take me to Camden
to get a tattoo."
Everyone's just, like,
themselves, you know?
And it's such a judgement-free zone.
I'm JAY-Z on a bad day
Shakespeare on my worst days ♪
It felt like a place where I started
to almost find my identity.
Like, this is somewhere, like,
it's starting to form who I am.
You know, if it were a person,
it's like the friend that is like,
"Don't be so fearful of everything."
I love Camden.
I said it with my chest ♪
And I don't care who I offend, uh-huh ♪
The Roundhouse has been
such an integral part of my journey.
Downstairs, there's, like,
these little production rooms.
When I was in college,
I remember leaving college
and coming to the Roundhouse.
It was like, "What happens
if I just really hone in on this
and put in my 10,000 hours
and devote myself to this craft?"
In hopes of being able
to produce music that can
maybe one day lead me to perform here.
If you're constantly in a space
where you look out your window,
and all you see is scaffolding,
mentally, that's a block, you know?
You can't see beyond that.
So you don't have room to dream.
It just sometimes takes being able
to step outside of that to be like,
"Oh, wow. Like, there is more."
Like, I remember
the membership was really cheap.
And I was like, "What?
You're telling me I can pay this much
and use these facilities
and play instruments,
and learn guitar and bang on drums,
I can do that?
If I wanna try and teach myself
how to produce, I can do that?"
Wow. Like, I'm literally in a playground.
I may as well just move in here.
I've always weirdly, like, known.
Like, I don't know.
I've always had, like,
such belief in myself that I am the best,
and I am gonna make this work,
and I am gonna
change my life situation around
and just make something of my life.
I got two questions for you guys.
Are you guys having a good time?
I'm a product of this place.
Someone that has spent so much time
in those production suites,
working at this thing
to get to this point
where I can perform in this space.
I remember seeing, like, Jessie J perform.
Like, Rizzle Kicks, Kendrick Lamar.
So much legacy, so much history here.
It's one of those venues
that you need to hit.
Second question.
Do you wanna see a dead body?
Do you wanna see a dead body? ♪
Prolly not.
Real dark in the cemetery
Where the souls lie, oh my ♪
What have I become?
Man, I'm so high ♪
Quit killing my buzz
Love drunk in the maze ♪
What have you done?
Where the hell are you taking me? ♪
- And what are we running from? ♪
- Demons in the back of my closet ♪
Don't talk to 'em ♪
Wouldn't wanna be me
'Cause I've walked with 'em ♪
It wasn't a nice walk, traumatised
Left me in a bad head space ♪
Lookin' to Heaven's door
I've been saved, have I? ♪
Asked for forgiveness, can I, will I?
Negative at heart, am I? ♪
Shall I explain
What the world done to me? ♪
Wouldn't understand
What I been through fully ♪
- Roundhouse, make some fucking noise!
I'm seeing my fans here.
I got my family here, my friends here.
Do you wanna see a dead body? ♪
Prolly not.
And it just felt like this is what happens
if you believe in something
and if you work hard.
Asked for forgiveness, can I, will I?
Negative at heart, am I? ♪
Explain what the world done to me ♪
Wouldn't understand
What I been through fully ♪
That show for me was, like,
the beginning of our headline shows.
Okay, what do I want mine to be about?
What do I want people to leave feeling?
What do I wanna take away from it?
That's what it all comes down to.
But don't judge me
God above me ♪
Why do you have me
Livin' like a junkie? ♪
Fuck, man!
Do you wanna see a dead body? ♪
When you're trying to do something that's,
like, a risk or not safe
- No more ♪
- No, no, no ♪
it takes a lot of work, takes years.
You have to constantly keep at it.
Have you ever seen a dead body? ♪
Thank God, like,
I didn't break or I didn't fold,
because I've had to fight
so much and, like, make it clear, like,
"Yo, just trust me. Just trust my vision.
Like, I know what I'm doing."
Have you ever seen a dead body?
Prolly not ♪
It was the tour
before my first album had come out.
I had already done one tour
around the world in some capacity.
This tour is just massive.
Lines have been right around the block.
But KOKO in Camden
was kind of like my home base.
When I, uh, play really big shows, I get--
First of all,
the adrenaline rush doesn't leave me,
and I get these really awful, like,
adrenaline headaches.
It's like a little pain in between my eyes
from all the excitement.
Until I get onstage,
it's kind of got me in a chokehold.
But I get, like, really sweaty hands,
and I'm, like, nervous all day,
and I'm just kind of bouncing around,
but it's a good feeling.
Right in front of us.
Before it was called KOKO,
it was Camden Palace,
and this is where Madonna first played.
This is where Grace Jones played.
This is where Prince played.
I saw J. Cole here. I saw Bruno Mars here.
I saw ScHoolboy Q here.
That was really fun.
There's nothing quite like going
and seeing your favourite artist
and experiencing the show.
And there was nothing I wanted to do more
than be on that very stage.
I spent pretty much
most of the day inside.
I was so nervous. I went in
and I did a lot of, like, sound checking,
and, like, rehearsal, prepping,
getting ready for it.
KOKO is big, but not too big.
It's got this thrilling feeling about it,
'cause it almost feels like
everyone's on top of each other
looking onto the stage.
It was probably
the most nervous I've ever been.
The butterflies--
I mean, my heart was in my throat.
But it was the adrenaline
that really kept me going.
He calls me the devil ♪
I make him wanna sin ♪
Every time I knock
He can't help but let me in ♪
Must be homesick for the real ♪
I'm the realest it gets ♪
You probably still adore me
With my hands around your neck ♪
Can you feel the warmth? ♪
You know,
when your friends and your family
and you're in a place
that you know so well,
but you're on the other side
of the barricade now.
Let's hear it!
'Cause I'm hot like hell ♪
Does it burn when I'm not there? ♪
You're kind of having
all of these intense emotions.
Your prayers ♪
I'm giving you the pleasure ♪
The feeling that your--
The feeling that my dream was coming true.
Hotter than hell ♪
Hotter than hell ♪
Oh, you're down right there ♪
You make me feel right there ♪
When you lay me down right there
We just make it right there ♪
It's definitely scary. I still to this day
feel like at any moment
the rug could be pulled
from under my feet.
We can make it ♪
'Cause I'm hot like hell ♪
But I absolutely love what I do,
and I love the way it makes me feel.
I'm giving you the pleasure of Heaven ♪
And I'll give it to you ♪
Hotter than hell ♪
Hotter than hell ♪
It's where I'm supposed to be.
And for as long as I get those butterflies
and that adrenaline and that excitement,
then I know I'm in the right place.
Hotter than hell ♪
This is like a fucking dream
come true for me.
Playing KOKO. That's crazy.
Thank you so much.
I'm Dua Lipa,
and I'll see you all very, very soon.