Scala is a former cinema turned

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

and live music venue in

Pentonville Road Pentonville Road is a road in Central London that runs west to east from Kings Cross to City Road at The Angel, Islington. The road is part of the London Inner Ring Road and part of the boundary of the London congestion charge zone. The ro ...

, London, England, near King's Cross railway station.

History

The Scala was originally built as a cinema to the designs of H Courtney Constantine, but construction was interrupted by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

and it spent some time being used to manufacture aircraft parts, and as a labour exchange for demobilised troops before opening in 1920 as the King's Cross Cinema. The cinema changed hands and names several times through its life and also changed focus, ranging from mainstream to art-house to adult film over 70 years, as well as spending a short time as a primatarium. In the summer of 1972, the King's Cross Cinema played host to the only UK concert by

Iggy & The Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist D ...

, who were in London recording the album ''

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''. All photographs later featured in the ''

'' album sleeve (including the famous cover shot) were taken that night during the show by

Mick Rock Michael David Rock (born Michael Edward Chester Smith; 21 November 1948 – 18 November 2021) was a British photographer. He photographed rock music acts such as Queen, David Bowie, Waylon Jennings, T. Rex, Syd Barrett, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and ...

. The cover shot of the

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LP ''

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'' was also taken that summer at the venue by Rock as well. Intended to be an alternative

National Film Theatre BFI Southbank (from 1951 to 2007, known as the National Film Theatre) is the leading repertory cinema in the UK, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films. It is operated by the British Film Institute. Hi ...

, the Scala Film Club (which took its name from Scala House, its home on Tottenham Street) moved to this venue in 1981 under the management of Stephen Woolley. However, when the Scala showed the film '' A Clockwork Orange'', then withdrawn from UK distribution, the copyright holder

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

sued at

Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

's insistence, and won. As a result, Scala was almost rendered bankrupt and closed in 1993; however, the club was re-opened in 1999. The cinema had been refitted, with the lower seating area incorporating the new stage, DJ booth and dancefloor, while the upper seating area incorporated a second room and a DJ booth. Scala now plays host to many eclectic club nights, and has featured live music acts including

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, Smoke Fairies,

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, Slaves,

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, London Elektricity,

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, Big Talk,

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, HIM,

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, Sara Bareilles,

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, Enslaved,

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, Maroon 5,

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, KLOQ,

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, JAWS,

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The Iterations and FEET.

Shock Around The Clock

In the 1980s, the Scala Cinema was known for its Shock Around The Clock horror all-nighters which would programme films such as '' The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue'' and ''

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aus ...

''. Shock Around The Clock would be a precursor to the

London FrightFest Film Festival FrightFest, also known as Arrow Video FrightFest is an annual film festival held in London and Glasgow. The festival holds three major events each year: a festival running five days over the UK late August Bank Holiday weekend, a Halloween event ...

, which ran in the 21st Century at various cinemas in and around

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...

Alleged assault on Wargasm singer Sam Matlock

Wargasm singer Sam Matlock stated that security staff at Scala had assaulted him, where the bouncers "dragged" him into the toilets, "slammed his head against the toilet seat" and "held his head in the toilet bowl". Scala banned the bouncers involved from the club.

Notes and references

External links

* – official site {{Coord, 51.5308, -0.1208, region:GB-CMD, display=title 1999 establishments in England Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Camden Music venues completed in 1999 Former cinemas in London Scala Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Camden Theatres completed in 1911 1911 establishments in England