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Live and kicking at Scandalism
By Charlotte Melville, London Lite 16.10.09
Endless summer: get that festival feeling at Scandalism
While I welcome the crunchy leaves and chilly mornings of autumn with open arms and new hats and scarves, I am always sad to wave farewell to the festival season. For me, summer's all about long weekends, tents, mates and music. And I'm not the only one.
As a testament to our passion for a music-based jamboree, the UK hosts almost 700 annual music festivals. Our national status for producing some of the best music in the world, not to mention taking pleasure in dancing about in leopard print wellies in a field, means we do it better than anyone else. We can see scores of great acts in one single weekend.
But, come October, normal gig-going resumes. And seeing just one or two bands in a night always leaves me feeling slightly cheated. Enter former Fabric boss Steve Blonde and business partner DJ Andy Peyton who launched Scandalism earlier this year; an ultra-hip outfit that encompasses a blog, a fashion label and, most importantly, a new alternative indie rock club night that provides all the live performances and DJ sets you can cram into an evening. And all for £10.
It's a one-dayer line-up for all seasons, held every few months, which should see us through the long, dark, festival-free months. On the blustery night of the launch, my friends and I were grateful to bowl into the Scala (the next one is to be held at Camden's Proud), hand over our £10 and head straight to the main bar for a pint (£3), a shot (£4) and a look at the line-up.
The bar, now named Room 3 and hosted by east London party collective Snap, Crackle And Pop, was buzzing by 11pm as Carlosi played powering house tunes. Feeling ready to get down, we joined the steady stream of revellers already moving between the rooms.
So many artists were booked they hadn't been able to cram them all on the flyer. More than 20 bands and DJ were on site, with live performances from Marina And The Diamonds and the promising cerebral rock of Wolf Gang, plus sets from Maccabees front man Orlando Weeks, Tommy Sparks, and Bugged Out residents We're Not Cool. It was just a case of fitting them all in.
The Scala's maze-like set-up was the perfect venue for meandering between the acts, with each area rocking a different vibe. As we moved into Room 2, Max McElligott and his occasional three-piece band that makes up Wolf Gang were midway through delighting the room with Eighties-influenced, highly musical indie rock and Bowie-esque vocals. He was one of many up-and-coming artists playing on the night. Stricken City followed with their summery electro pop, and we hit the main room to witness precocious Welsh lass Marina unleash her potent vocals on her Diamonds (that's us).
Back to Room 3 for a change in pace with We're Not Cool's pounding electro set, then outside for a ciggie and a chat with some fellow partygoers.
Hoxton resident Ciara was equally impressed with the set-up. “We came to see Orlando (Weeks) DJ but I've just seen two good bands I'd never really heard of and I hadn't realised Tommy Sparks was playing, too,” she said. “It's such good value for money.”
Unwilling to waste any more time away from the action, we headed back inside to buy another beer before the highly anticipated set from Weeks. We regressed 40 years as he played classic Chuck Berry song Roll Over Beethoven and a scattering of Motown hits before signing off with Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares 2 U.
Swinging dramatically in genre, Tommy Sparks stepped up next with a typical, well-executed mix of hip hop and some crafty electro. It highlighted the diversity of the talent pulled in for the night, and we all tipped our hats to the promoters for providing such a mix.
The next instalment, in a fortnight, will feature Passion Pit, We Have Band and Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, among many others. The music carried on until 4am, at which point we donned our jackets and braved the chill. Stepping out into the night, it was much easier to keep a stiff upper lip after such a satisfying night out. The festival season just got a little bit longer.
