Live Review | Scustin @The Victoria, Dalston
Irish band, Scustin, close out their UK & Ireland tour with a rowdy bank holiday gig at The Victoria
“DON’T PUT BLACKCURRENT IN THAT PINT OF GUINNESS” shouts a shirtless man in the back room of The Victoria pub in Dalston.
In the popular North-East London pub the crowd is crouched down eagerly awaiting the countdown from Scustin’s frontman, Joe. It’s the pinnacle of the evening and the last important part the crowd has in bringing the energetic show to it’s close.
Before giving the go-ahead, Joe gives a serious look to the brave bearded man he’s entrusted with the mic. Then, following a nod, the man who’s not long stripped off his Scustin shirt, shouts “DON’T PUT BLACKCURRENT IN THAT PINT OF GUINNESS” cueing the crowd to jump back on their feet and let it all go.
A small mosh pit swallows the Scustin Frontman before he escapes back on to the stage and the crowd carries on dancing and jumping. It’s a rowdy affair and matches the energy I’ve seen play out across their other shows on tour.
It’s the final night of the tour for Irish quartet, as they close out their fourteen-date UK & Ireland tour at The Victoria in Dalston. Headlining Honeymoon promotions’ all-day bank holiday extravaganza, it wasn’t going to be a quiet one. Nixer, the penultimate act of the day used their high energy humour and electronic beats to warm up the crowd, but it was Scustin’s turn to amp it up.
To begin the set, Joe makes his way out into the crowd and onto his friends’ shoulders describing, “I like to think of this as being part of a community rather than a band”, encouraging the room — which is yet to fill up — to shout “alright Larry” to calm his nerves. It’s a novelty that carries through the rest of the set as the crowd will be invited to sing, chant and to get up on stage.
The set opens with the familiar lines of ‘The Killer’ introducing Scustin’s popular trait of speaking rather than singing, an influence probably likened to Mike Skinner from The Streets. This is followed by ‘Deep Dirty Bastards’, and the blokey yet groovy ‘The Candyman’, each wooven together by Joe’s skits. It’s entertaining, comedic and contagious.
The chorouses are catchy and despite half the crowd admitting they hadn’t seen Scustin play before, it didn’t take long before they were able to pick up the chorus. After ‘The Bouncer’ and ‘Happy As Larry’ the crowd were well and truly warmed up enough to belt out the words, “I’M NEVER FLYING WITH RYANAIR AGAIN.”
This tongue-in-cheek audience participation is an important factor of the show but it isn’t all they’ve got. The band is just as good and Joe’s ability to transcend lines on being skint, stalking your ex and disbelieving your bullshitting mate into a melodic tune is where they become more than a band reliant on Irish charm.
As they go into ‘‘Sometimes I Fell Like I’m Not Good Enough’, their funk influence shines through and we’re treated to more traditional melodies than the spoken word we’ve heard earlier, bringing a hint of sophistication to the evening. That is until, once again, Joe is teaching the crowd to chant: “I ONCE KILLED A TIGER, NOW I’M WORTH A FIVER.”
As they start to bring the set to a close, we’re taken back to the covid-19 pandemic, a concept the audience doesn’t seem too thrilled about (but that’s before they know what’s coming). Joe whips out a mask of Matt Damon, before inviting four members of the crowd up on stage to join him in chanting “Nothing makes sense, anymore, I’m drinking cans in a field with Matt Damon”. It’s ridiculous, and hilarious and by the way it’s told, is completely believable.
There’s a short break before they’re encouraged back on for their final two songs of the night. The encore opens to ‘Rocky Road’ and a rendition of Irish dancing. And then it’s time to close it off with ‘The Ick’. In smaller shows like these, an energetic close is never a given but if Scustin know how to do one thing — it’s draw you in.
They have well and truly thought it all through. From The Candyman to The Bouncer, The Killer to The Charmer. The band brings you into their world by creating personalities you can recognise. So before you know it you’ll also be saying “Well you know I’m a charmer, so I sat down beside her and said “I wanna take you to mile high club”’. So when Joe tells you to get down, the whole room gets down.