Half Moon Run play The Forum on September 13  [Jennifer McCord]

THESE­ past few weeks just show how spoiled we can be for musical choices in this area. At the very place Prince once played his five-hour Prince-a-thon, Billie Eilish – an icon of the times – announced a last-minute show at the Electric Ballroom just the night before her brother Finneas was due to play.

The weekend before, Inverness Street marked 50 years of hip-hop with an all-day bloc party featuring incredible DJs including Kentish Town’s DJ Matt White and one of the greatest hype men I’ve ever seen – if only I’d caught his name.

And this week was the culmination of nearly 20 years of work from the founders of the Music Walk of Fame – with the first Camden Music Festival (taking place from noon on Saturday) and the unveiling of the latest stars honouring Janis Joplin, Eddy Grant, Shalamar, UB40, The Kinks, The Sugarhill Gang, Buzzcocks, Billy Bragg, Harvey Goldsmith, Paul “Trouble Anderson” and Gordon Mac.

I first reported on Lee Bennett’s Walk of Fame plans in 2006 – when the Hollywood Walk of Fame first endorsed the plans and he and his team have worked tirelessly to get it to where it is now.

No doubt next year’s festival will be even bigger – about time a replacement came about for the Camden Crawl (Camden Rocks – are you coming back soon?). It’s always worth keeping an eye on socials and venue listings as you never quite know what might crop up on our doorstep!

• Internationally renowned vinyl-only night Snakehips, created by two Camden music obsessives Amy Winehouse and DJ Bioux relaunches at iconic Camden boozer The Elephants Head on September 10, continuing every Sunday (1pm-5pm). Sixties-style party band The Trouble play the launch night at 8pm. Free entry.

• Since the last column, we caught The Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at All Points East festival in Victoria Park – see our review online at www.camdennewjournal.co.uk/category/review/rock-n-pop

• Abbey Road Studios have revealed the shortlist for its second annual Music Photography Awards and this year, you can view the 30 shortlisted entries at Outernet London where they went on display on Saturday. You can also vote for the Music Moment of the Year on the MPAs website.

• Montreal trio Half Moon Run return with their fourth album Salt to play The Forum on Sept 13 with a portion of the ticket price going to the Syria American Medical Society.

• Jeff Mills brings his Afrofunk-electro-jazz ensemble Tomorrow Comes The Harvest ft keyboardist Jean-Phi Dary and tabla player Prabhu Edouard to Barbican on Sept 8.

• Hip-hop giant Talib Kweli plays Jazz Café on Sept 8. Then, on Sept 10, Brazilian rapper BK plays Jazz Café with support from Deekapz and, in memory of Amy Winehouse, the JC marks 20 years of her debut album Frank with performances from a collection of as yet unnamed London musicians on Sept 12.

• Emerging from necessity during lockdown, An Evening with Spike from The Quireboys has turned into a bit of an event – with special guests and plenty of audience interaction, see him at The Underworld on Sept 8.

• Upcoming French rapper SDM is recognisable by his deep voice and sharp lyrics. See him at Scala on Sept 11.

• Harry Potter and Westworld actor Ben Barnes takes over Islington Assembly Hall for two nights (Sept 21-22) where he introduces his EP Songs For You, based on his own life experiences.

• Corduroy bassist Richard Searle and Ian Jackson join Crawdaddy! Regulars Gary, Lucienne and Danny at The Fiddlers Elbow to play the finest northern soul, mod, Motown, vintage R&B, Two Tone, ska and rocksteady, all on vinyl on Sept 15.

More upcoming gigs:

SEPT 8 – Geese, Lafayette; Ichika Nito, Islington Assembly Hall; Rain of Animals, Green Note; Alvin Mast, Dingwalls Canal Bar; Furnace and the Fundamentals & Rick Parfitt Jnr Band, Electric Ballroom
SEPT 8-9 – Orchestra Baobab, Union Chapel; Reel People, The Forge
SEPT 9 – Breland, Electric Ballroom; Feist, Roundhouse; anaiis + Astrønne, Barbican; Porkpie, 100 Club; La Malafamera, The Garage; Dale Storr, Green Note; Thousand Yard Stare, The Lexington; Armand van Helden, Koko
SEPT 10 – Ile, Lafayette; Sarabeth Tucek, The Lexington; Evil Ebenezer, Camden Assembly; Hype Lights + Felicia Lumpz + You Win Again Gravity, The Dublin Castle
SEPT 11 – Flyying Colours, The Lexington; Temples, Koko; Roxanne de Bastion, Green Note; Blu & Exile, Jazz Café
SEPT 12 – Loco Ironico, The Forge; SIMRIT, Union Chapel; Colectiva + James Priestley [Secretsundaze], Lafayette; The Never Fade Sessions with opening set by Gabrielle Aplin, The Social; The Ralfe Band + The Sinclairs, The Lexington
SEPT 13 – Sam Burton, St Pancras Old Church; Lilla Shy + Sofi Vonn + Lee Rogers + Jodie Knight, The Camden Club; Jodie Knight + Lee Rogers + Sofi Vonn + Lilla Shy, The Camden Club; She Wants Revenge + Deep Tan + PC World, Scala; ThxSoMch Underworld; Shackleton & Zimpel with Siddartha Belmannu, Jazz Café; Charlotte Cardin, Koko; Fur The Garage; Shalamar’s Jeffrey Daniel funk and soul jam, Dingwalls
SEPT 14 –Rising presents: Raquel Martins + Waldo’s Gift + India Shan, Roundhouse; Urzila Carlson: Just No, The Forum;
SEPT 14-16 – Anavitoria, Jazz Café
SEPT 15 – Grandson, Electric Ballroom; Bonny Light Horseman + London Contemporary Orchestra, Barbican; Corduroy, The Forge; Cosmic Void Festival, The Underworld; Quimantu, Green Note; Tower, The Black Heart; The Molotovs and The Halophones co-headline, Dingwalls; The Heavy, Koko; The False Dots + The Shoals + Vicious Love + The Stylus Method, The Dublin Castle; Lewis Barfoot, St Pancras Old Church; Ten Tonnes, Camden Assembly; Bonny Light Horseman w London Contemporary Orchestra, Barbican
SEPT 16 – Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash, 100 Club ; Gloria Scott, The Forge; The Real People, Islington Academy; Acid Arab + Dar Disku + Moktar + Donna Leake, Koko; Kanda + Oxomo + Stmann + Oscar Smith, The Fiddlers Elbow; The Fades + Jemma Freeman and he Cosmic Something + Hey You Guys, The Lexington
SEPT 17 – Seal, Palladium; Palmwine Festival, Koko; Fatma Said, Lafayette
SEPT 19 – Lily Moore, Lower Third; Nafe Smallz, Koko; Devon Sproule, The Lexington
SEPT 20 – Dexys, Palladium; Omar Apollo, Roundhouse; Will Heard, Lafayette
SEPT 21 – Cobra Man, Scala.