Wargasm accuse Scala bouncers of “unnecessary use of force” against member Sam Matlock
Wargasm have alleged that bouncers at the Scala venue in London showed “unnecessary use of force” against member Sam Matlock after the band’s show at the venue on Friday night (November 5).
The band were playing a set at the Kings Cross venue as part of the FaceDown nightclub, and alleged in a new statement posted to Twitter yesterday (November 7) that after the show, a bouncer at the venue was “verbally aggressive” towards the band’s female tour manager, leading vocalist and guitarist Matlock to have to “step in”.
They wrote: “After this, in a completely overzealous and unnecessary use of force, three bouncers then dragged Sam into the backstage toilets, where two of them slammed his head against the toilet seat and held his head in the toilet bowl while the third bouncer held the door closed with his foot.
“At this point, luckily, another member of our touring party was able to intervene and remove Sam from the situation,” the message continued.
Adding that the reported incident was “not without injury,” the band shared a photo showing Matlock with scars on his back and upper arms.
Regarding the events on Friday night. pic.twitter.com/cL7aYWfI64
— ??????? (@thisiswargasmuk) November 7, 2021
The band’s statement continued: “Wargasm’s management have been attempting to contact Scala directly over the weekend to no avail. Scala have still not responded to our team’s emails.
“We feel that anyone visiting or playing at this venue should be aware of our deeply shocking experience and the treatment of our team by the current security staff.
“It’s now been made very clear to us that as long as this current security team are under employment there, from our experience we do not consider Scala a safe venue, especially for women.”
The message concluded: “Wargasm will not accept aggression, verbal or physical, towards any member of our team, and we are aware that this kind of attitude can be a behaviour that repeats and rarely happens in total isolation.
“It therefore must be looked at with immediate effect by Scala to ensure the safety of everyone who uses their facilities in the future.”
Responding to the statement, FaceDown said they are aware of the incident and “would like to extend our sincere apologies” to the band.
They wrote on Instagram: “While we do not employ the security at our events, as this is the venue’s responsibility we do not appreciate people being manhandled this way be it someone in the crowd or backstage.
“This has been communicated to the venue and we await their response.”
NME has contacted Scala for comment.
