Gig Review: The Scratch At Electric Ballroom
Pull like a dog… The Scratch turn the Ballroom into the bounciest it’s ever been and earn their title of Ireland’s best live act; you’ll be wanting to stay for another round long after they’re done.
There are few bands more prolific with their live shows now than the Irish outfit The Scratch, who never say no to a pub gig and have recently toured London at the Marquis, Faltering Fullback, and Skehan’s. Electric Ballroom, at 1,500 capacity, is significantly bigger than all those three pubs combined – an upgrade over their initial venue; Islington Assembly Hall, showing the goodwill that draws all ages to the table. The Crowd are excellent and really engaged from the off: it doesn’t take long for the pits to open and the Ballroom to descend into sheer fucking chaos.
They are here of course; for an album tour – Pull Like A Dog shows the skills that the band have gained busking before going on a lengthy festival circuit that included stops at Jera on Air and Rock Werchter in 2025, and Bloodstock and 2,000 Trees in 2026, and it makes sense when you see them live. Compared to their records it’s almost like a completely different show – they’ve earned the “best live act to come out of Ireland” title and then some; mixing metal with trad folk, which sounds like an odd combination anyway you look at it – but it doesn’t take long for the pints to be flowing and they are a band that look like they are enjoying it and actively want to be there too – that energy is reflected to the crowd every time Daniel Lang calls out “LONDON” – and the capital obligies.
We’re off instantly with ‘Pulling Teeth’, and the mayhem descends into utter anarchy on a biblical scale. Their experience supporting The Dropkick Murphys shows in their raw punk intensity here – plunging the crowd into chaos – and the two heavy hitters of ‘Pulling Teeth’ and ‘Pull Like a Dog’ doesn’t allow anyone to come up for air. The phrase echoes a sense of real energy, grit and determination: pure chaos is up for grabs and the pit energy is unrivalled in terms of explosive force. The gut punch of these two songs is a warning for the set: if you’re not ready, the pit will eat you alive. “Sometimes you get lucky / sometimes they’ll disappear back up their own arse if it’s not too mucky / if you’re lucky” ‘Pulling Teeth’ taunts the audience – raucous and volatile.
‘Flaker, Joseph Ronald Drew, Seanchai’ all come next, The Scratch waste no time in getting through the bulk of their back catalogue released prior to ‘Pull Like a Dog’. It feels odd – after so many festivals and pub tours – to see them on an actual headline gig – yet here we are, embraced in the complete chaos and anarchy – proving they – and more accurately, the audience, have the stamina, the material and the setlist for a full gig run through. ‘Flaker’ is the crowd-warm-upper, ‘But sure didn’t he forget to get back to me’, the crowd chant – and we’re off.
There are few quieter moments in the set when they realise that the crowd need to come up for air; although you get the feeling the Scratch could just keep going. A particular favourite with the Irish contingent comes ‘Joxer Goes to Stuttgart’, a cover of Christy Moore’s track about a fan, named Joxer, who travels to Ireland’s first major international tournament in Euro 1988, West Germany. “what happened next is history / bought to many eyes / oh the day that will be the highlight of many people’s lives / well Joxer climbed right over the top and the last time he was seen / was arm-in-arm with Jack Charlton, singing ‘Revenge for the Skibbereen’.” It was the win over England in 1988 that sealed the deal for this to be a momentous occasion even if Ireland were eliminated, eventually from the tournament: winning would’ve been great, but beating England was the main goal; especially after the taunting of the media who said that “the English team would lead us on a Merry dance.” It’s the reminder of the folkier elements of the Scratch’s set and it’s a touching story told by Gary Regan about something he used to sing with his father. The louder, rowdier folk song is ‘McAlpine’s Fusiliers,’ showing the range of the genre – Dominic Behan’s cover has been covered by many; including the Dubliners, but The Scratch’s version may be the best you’ll hear live.
The Scratch use their platform for a fundraiser to help families in Gaza, putting them on the right side of history with multiple Irish acts around right now; using their voices to amplify a good cause. It’s greeted with cheers – and then we’re off and running again for the set. I’ve seen ‘Cheeky Bastard’ deployed a lot earlier in the pub shows so it’s refreshing to see it left to the end for a change when the crowd energy is at its peak “He won’t stop singing Champagne Supernova” gives the absolutely nuts pit the Ballroom is capable of offering probably its bounciest energy that you’ve seen in a long, long time; and when hardcore giants SPEED were in the room earlier that month, that’s no small feat. They drift into fully blown metal territory with their cover of ‘Ace of Spades’, deployed in the encore, showing their range: the Motörhead classic gets a resounding reception from the audience, as too does ‘Blaggard’ and ‘Another Round’, which have the audience baying out for one more round – so purely energetic and a five minute track that just builds and builds in a fully unique; signature style.
The Scratch are not just Ireland’s best live band at the moment; there’s a case for them being the best live band at the moment full stop – to watch them in full flow is to watch them at the peak of their powers. Already confirmed to tour at 02 Forum Kentish Town in February, they’re appointment viewing of the best possible kind.
Photography By: Conor Beegan