Bar balcony, bands, toilets... The Scala has it all. © 2011 Marc Roberts.
The grand Gothic masterpiece that is St. Pancras station looms overhead, almost shadowing the Scala in a premature dusk of an early September evening. A neon emblazoned turret, crowned by an ornate clock and dominating the view of Pentonville Road, approached from Kings Cross Station, dictates much of the layout of the club’s interior by acting as the main artery, supplying would be hipsters with a vast choice of platforms to view the music they’ve paid to consume. This could almost be real world 3D TV. Subscription Psychedelia…
On view inside the main hall are gods like balconies; a Perspex walled, sound-proofed bar & sub arteries of long corridors, lined with Gothic archways, cut deep into the brickwork. Inside, community booths – giving the space an almost roadhouse diner style feel whilst on high backed leather benches, groups of people sit and drink, laugh and talk whilst some sit quietly and read. The vibe is kind and all this seems a hand span away. Winding up and around the main spiral staircases, from the floor it’s three flights high. This place has that Tardis like feel to it. From above, the laminate flooring of the main hall below is coloured a dry canyon bed mustard, littered with ants and lounge lizards a plenty, all monging out and diggin’ the universe in their own unique way. The mix of music, pulsing under its ‘psychedelic’ pseudonym is just as eclectic as the crowd…
First up, Mugstar. The damaged side of psych. Honed to perfection and sampling some new material since the Carlton Melton gigs in April? It was hard to tell. My ears were dripping off the side of my face within the first few minutes. It’s impossible to imagine though, through the chaos and cacophony – the brutal wall of sound – that they could add another dimension to it, but they did and they did it well. Seasoned pros f’sho… and from the dying embers & angry shrieks of their 30 minute sonic assault, in sauntered the ‘Wolf People’.
'Wolf People' @ The Scala 04/09/2011. © 2011 Marc Roberts.
As a jam band there were moments of genuine genius but this was quickly subdued by a lyrically stunted front man standing to the right of the stage, leaving a melancholy looking bassist / backing vocalist to take centre for all to feast their loving gazes upon. For the first song I thought he was a ventriloquist. The Psych Test Dummies… Made more sense than ‘Wolf People’. It wasn’t until the full effects of the light show kicked in that I noticed the ‘front man’ hiding in the wings.
The aesthetic and vocal wizardry, for the most part, sounded like the worst of Sunburned Hand of the Man cut with the best of The Eagles – making for a disastrous 70’s desert rock cliche. It was hard to figure out if they were a group of so cal, no cal English weirdy beardies or the real deal from an acid fried, Southern Californian smoke bowl… Wondering whether one of them was a Dentist, a vintage fashionista, an I.T Technician & a high school drop out with a guitar doesn’t make for a focused listen. Mainly filla, not much killa.
'Wooden Shjips' @ The Scala 04/09/2011. © 2011 Marc Roberts.
Wooden Shjips walked out to jovial shouts, claps & cheers from the crowd & seemed a little more nervous than usual. That ‘West’ was recorded in a studio left many onlookers curious of what we might expect. From humble beginnings as a garage band made up of non musicians and giving away their first three records to anyone who asked for a copy to five years later and having toured America, Europe & Australia with a global cult following, I guess the anticipation was riding high. The crowd was the biggest I’ve seen at one of their UK shows over the past two years.
They tore straight into title track ‘West’ from the new album. The transformation and confidence in the group since the Bush Hall gig, fresh from their tour of Australia & New Zealand 18 months ago had transcended all boundaries, the 4 of them bobbin’ and weavin’ in varying trance induced states of sobriety; the crowd too. The backdrop was home made movies of Frisco & the Golden Gate Bridge. Ripley thanked the crowd after ‘West’ and they tore into a set from second album ‘Dos’ – ‘Motorbike’, ‘Aquarian Time’ and ‘Fallin’’.
30 minutes in and it was already time to drop out. In a city that rarely sleeps, the train service does – and sadly, a little too early on a Sunday night…
