Venue info
Scala is an 1,145 capacity venue in Kings Cross, a short walk from National Rail and Underground services. The venue hosts an eclectic mix of live music events and club nights. There are four floors, three bars, a cloakroom and a small outdoor courtyard to accommodate smokers.
The venue opened as Kings Cross Cinema in 1920, boasting the capability to seat over a thousand people. The building was damaged in the Blitz of the Second World War and then refurbished and re-opened in the 50s. During the early 70s, in addition to the films, the cinema became an all night rock music venue, hosting artists such as Iggy Pop and Hawkwind. This was short lived and the late-night licence was revoked in 1974 after petitions by local residents. The venue closed its doors and transformed into an ecological exhibition called the Primatarium. The project was not a success and the space reverted back to a cinema in 1981 (membership to Scala Cinema Club was just 50p a year), and became renowned as one of Britain's leading art house cinemas.
The cinema was soon surrounded in controversy after screening Stanley's Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange', thus breaching copyright. The cinema was taken to court by Kubrick and Warner Brothers, and fined so heavily it was forced into liquidation. Scala re-opened as a music venue in 1999 after a complete transformation, with the addition of two new floors.
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