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London Astoria
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The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. The Astoria closed on the 15th of January 2009.
Astoria was built on the site of a former pickle factory and opened in 1927 as a cinema. It was later converted for theatrical use in 1976 and became exclusively a music venue with a capacity of 2,000.
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Encyclopedia
The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. The Astoria closed on the 15th of January 2009.
History
The Astoria was built on the site of a former pickle factory and opened in 1927 as a cinema. It was later converted for theatrical use in 1976 and became exclusively a music venue with a capacity of 2,000. The Astoria was connected to Astoria 2 such that the two venues could function as a single venue where needed. By far its busiest nights were the G-A-Y promotions; the final G-A-Y at the Astoria was held on 26 July 2008.
It played host to many up-and-coming bands, such as Radiohead and Nirvana in 1989. The venue would also host world famous bands wishing to play low-profile shows, including U2 in 2001, The Rolling Stones in 2003, Pearl Jam in 2006 and Oasis's first performance of their 2005 tour. Blur also played a five-night residency in 2003. The venue played host to the popular nightclub G-A-Y, which sees many celebrities visit and perform music for the assembled crowd.
Mean Fiddler acquired the lease for the London Astoria in May 2000, 'securing the future of live music at one of London’s most famous rock ‘n’ roll venues.' Subsequently it was the primary choice for well-established bands' intimate club gigs in London. Big names to have played the Astoria include:The Beach Boys, Nirvana, Hanoi Rocks, The Black Crowes, System Of A Down, Smashing Pumpkins, Coldplay, Napalm Death, Metallica, Jimi Hendrix, HIM, Suede, Arctic Monkeys, Feeder, Muse, Slayer, Blur, Radiohead, Travis, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Supergrass, Foo Fighters, Franz Ferdinand, Black Sabbath, Kaiser Chiefs, Linkin Park, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, The Libertines, The Misfits, Megadeth, Alice Cooper, Oasis, Amy Winehouse, Green Day, Prince, Rage Against the Machine, Slipknot, U2, Eminem, Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails and The White Stripes. The Astoria also hosted the final gig by Manic Street Preachers, before Richey Edwards' disappearance.
Only five unsigned bands have managed to sell out the Astoria, The Darkness, Enter Shikari, The Blackout, You Me At Six and Arctic Monkeys.
The Enemy and Blur both hold the record for playing six consecutive nights at the Astoria. Ocean Colour Scene played five consecutive sold out nights at the Astoria in March 2000 as part of their One from the Modern tour. In December 2008, Coheed and Cambria played four nights (with one reschedule) at the venue as part of their Neverender tour.
Recordings
Radiohead recorded a whole concert on VHS called Live at the Astoria which was released on 27 May 1994 and later re-released on DVD on November 21, 2005 in the UK and one day later in the USA and Canada.
Sum 41 recorded a whole live concert on the DVD Introduction To Destruction in 2001.
Marillion recorded their live DVD Marbles on the Road at two sold out shows at the Astoria in July 2004.
Hard-Fi's DVD, In Operation, is a full live performance at one of their sold out shows at the Astoria during their sold-out 2005, December tour. It reached #62 in the UK Chart as it was bundled with a remix CD, thus making it eligible.
Eels recorded their album Live and in Person! London 2006 at the Astoria in 2006.
InMe recorded their 2006 live album & DVDCaught: White Butterfly at the Astoria in December 2005. Produced by Nyquest Ltd
Steve Vai recorded and released a live DVD called Live at the Astoria.
Black Label Society recorded part of their live DVD The European Invasion - Doom Troopin' Live at the Astoria in June 2005.
Diamond Head recorded a DVD & Live CD "To The Devil His Due" released by Secret Records Ltd in 2006 produced by Nyquest Ltd.
Steve Marriott Memorial CD & DVD was also recorded in 2001 featuring Paul Weller & Noel Gallagher directed by Dave Meehan of Nyquest Ltd.
Stop The War Live DVD was also recorded here featuring Mick Jones, Brian Eno & Rachid Taha directed by Dave Meehan of Nyquest Ltd.
New Model Army recorded their DVD here in 2003 - Live 161203 directed by Dave Meehan of Nyquest Ltd.
Closure
The Astoria was sold in June 2006 by Compco Holdings property group Derwent Valley Central for £23.75m, who were rumoured to be planning to convert the site into a combination of shops, flats and offices to take advantage of an increase in property prices for the 2012 Olympics .
On 13 August 2007, Mean Fiddler completed its merger with the MAMA Group and no longer operates the Astoria or the Mean Fiddler venues. These have now been incorporated into the group's "Festival Republic" brand. The Mean Fiddler venue changed its name back to Astoria 2 shortly after this announcement.
The Astoria will be demolished to make way for Crossrail, despite public opposition and an online petition. Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone confirmed that the venue "can't be saved".
A replacement for the Astoria would then be developed by the council and leaseholders, with work due to start in late 2009, depending on Government funding . Festival Republic (the owners of the Astoria) have confirmed that a replacement will be built in the near future but no further information is currently available.
The nightclub G-A-Y left the Astoria in July 2008 and moved to the Heaven nightclub.
The Astoria hosted its final night on 14 January 2009, co-organised by Get Cape Wear Cape Fly's Sam Duckworth in aid of Billy Bragg's charity and Love Music Hate Racism. Acts included The Automatic, My Vitriol and ex-Mansun singer Paul Draper.
London Astoria 2 also had a closing party, headlined by rock band Open The Skies, with support from Outcry Fire, F.A.T.E and Orakai.
External links
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