Live Review + Gallery | Home Counties @ Scala, London

Home Counties | My First Time | Parker Fans

Scala, London

2nd December 2025

Daniel Lincoln

Daniel Lincoln is currently occupied buying a lens for a camera he doesn’t own. Interests include post-punk, new-wave, and the Windmill Scene. Daniel has an intense hatred of hair metal and small plates. He can be found in your local small venue, using a fisheye lens big enough to kill a man.

Home Counties play their biggest show to date at London’s Scala, with support from Parker Fans and My First Time

Amsterdam Euro-pop 3-piece Parker Fans opened the show at Scala on Tuesday. Their fun and energetic set was a real throwback to the ‘90s. Bouncing across the stage in a retro R9 (Brazilian football Legend) shirt, the frontman belted out tracks and laid down beats perfect to get the crowd ready for the upcoming sets. Bass and keys rounded out the three-piece’s instrumentation – think RIP Magic for similar vibes.

Bristol five-piece My First Time were the main support for Home Counties and they did not disappoint. Standout tracks ‘Sippy Cup‘ and ‘Bodybag,‘ released in October and August of this year respectively, scream that there is a lot to come from this band.

My First Time are a post/pop punk mash-up with excellent ability to control a crowd. A pre-set warning from the stage manager about the frontman looking to dive into the crowd was an early sign that this would be a great set, and it sure was! lead vocalist Isaac Stroud-Allen was on the barriers from the off and in the middle of the crowd not long after that! Check out Flat Party for a similar style and crowd engagement.

Funky 6-piece Home Counties round out a headline tour with their biggest show yet at a packed-out Scala and did not disappoint. The tour, celebrating the release of their new album ‘Humdrum‘, is an excellent step forward from their previous album and two EPs.

Expanding on their previous work ‘Humdrum‘, produced by Al Doyle, who has previously worked with the likes of LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip, explores the unease of saying too much or too little. Scala was bouncing along to the funky yet thought-invoking tunes of Home Counties’ discography.

The set was full of surprises, with a dancer coming on stage during ‘Roundabout‘, vocalist Will Harrison playing a recorder during the intro to ‘Dad Bod,‘ and, of course, the announcement and performance of the Christmas single ‘Better Last Year (Home Counties For Christmas)‘, which is out now!

Stand out tracks for me were Back To The 70’s, ‘Meet Me In The Flat Roof,’ a love song to flat-roofed pubs, and the title track of this year’s album ‘Humdrum‘.