The Scala is a venue for a wide variety of contemporary sounds through the week. Over 2 floors, they host breakbeat DJs, live gigs, Latino nights and also a gay night every Friday. Cards are accepted behind the bars.
Scala
Night Club in King's Cross
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All In London Review
Former cinema turned club lives on
A venue with a great deal of history, it opened in 1920 as a picture house, and over the decades showcased everything from art movies to porn. The cinema went bankrupt in 1993 and was forced to close after being sued by Warner Brothers for showing ‘A Clockwork Orange’ without permission from Stanley Kubrick, however it reopened in 1999 in its present guise as nightclub.
Nights here are unpredictable as with any nightclub depending on the DJ playing, but the vastness of the venue –there are 4 floors accommodating over 1,000 people, although I’ve never witnessed all floors to be open at once- and the twisting staircases up to the toilets seem almost gothic, particularly when the narrow windows begin to let in the light of the very early morning. The first room through the doors of Scala clearly evokes the box office of a cinema, and it’s easy to picture the popcorn machines where the bar area is.
The main dancefloor -formerly the auditorium- almost seems hostile to dancers, with a staircase running through the middle of it where the steps leading up to the seats would have been. A raised stage remains where the screen was, encouraging attention seekers to jump up and dance to a disinterested audience. This structure makes it a tight space, and on busy nights it can be quite difficult to move at all let alone dance.
Aside from club nights Scala also doubles as a live music venue, and has played host to big acts like Scissor Sisters, Coldplay, and Foo Fighters amongst many others. Perhaps it’s this eclectic mix of events that has helped Scala to survive for so long, in an era when London’s biggest clubs seem to be closing one by one.
Reviewed by Leila
Published on Aug 5, 2008
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The Scala was once a cinema, you know. Now it is the host of various club nights, art events and, importantly for this list, concerts. It is large enough to attract big names in music but it is also small enough to provide one of the most intimate live music environments you’re likely to see an international band in.
User Reviews
MUG
Jun 21, 2006
First time bank holiday May. The place itself if impressive. Good music and dancing. Great ladies. Lines are too long to give and retrieve your coat. Will difintely go back.
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