Remembering The Hawley Arms, the Pub That Became Indie’s 2000s Hub

Late on 9 February 2008, a Saturday night, I left a gig at Koko and made my way up Camden High Street in north London toward my house. I didn’t get very far before I was stopped by a policeman who told me that Camden was “on fire”, which struck me as unusual. Going the long way round, I found myself stood on a bridge over Regent’s Canal watching the most famous pub in British indie music burn.