London Astoria


The London Astoria was a music venue, located at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. It was closed on 15 January 2009 and has since been demolished. The venue is still seen today as an iconic music establishment, as it helped to launch the careers of many British rock bands and also played a part in the UK success of many international acts.
Originally a warehouse during the 1920s, the building became a cinema and ballroom. It was converted for use as a theatre in the 1970s. After further conversion, the building re-opened in the mid-1980s, as a night club and live music venue for well-known musical acts. There are half a dozen smaller music and gay clubs in the adjacent buildings within the neighbourhood.
In 2009 the venue closed, and was demolished as part of the development plans of the Crossrail project.

History

The Astoria was built on the site of a former Crosse & Blackwell warehouse and opened in 1927 as a cinema. It was designed by Edward A. Stone, who also designed subsequent Astoria venues at Brixton, Old Kent Road, Finsbury Park and Streatham. When first constructed, the building was four storeys tall with a decorative frieze cornice surrounding its exterior. The original interior was styled as a square Proscenium theatre consisting of a panelled barrel-vault ceiling supported by large columns, a viewing balcony and had false viewing boxes, which actually contained the organ pipes. From 1928, the basement was used as a ballroom dancing salon.
The venue's interior was re-designed with a plainer, modern style in 1968. In 1977 it was converted for theatrical use. The venue went through another period of conversion when the theatre closed in 1984. It reopened in 1985 as a nightclub and live music venue with a capacity for 2,000 people. A booklet was published called The History of the Astoria by Nigel Crewe to commemorate its evolving uses.
The venue would host the famous night "The Trip" at the height of the acid house scene in 1988.
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." It was also connected to Astoria 2 so that the two venues could function as a single venue when needed. The Astoria continued to operate in this format until its ultimate closure in 2009.

Recordings

In June 2006, the Astoria was sold by Compco Holdings to property group Derwent Valley Central, for £23.75m. It was rumoured that the buyers were planning to convert the site into a combination of shops, flats and offices to take advantage of an increase in property prices due to the forthcoming 2012 Olympics.
On 13 August 2007, Festival Republic sold most of its venues, and the rights to the name Mean Fiddler, to the MAMA Group, but it retained The Astoria and Mean Fiddler, which reverted to its old name of The Astoria 2, generally known as the LA2. In December 2008, as part of their Neverender concert series, Coheed and Cambria played at the venue for four nights, their only performance outside of the United States.
In January 2009, the property was compulsory purchased for the Crossrail development, despite public opposition and an online petition. Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone confirmed that the venue "can't be saved".
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 Jail Guitar Doors charity and Love Music Hate Racism. Acts included The Automatic, My Vitriol and ex-Mansun singer Paul Draper, Frank Turner,...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead and The King Blues. 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. Demolition of the venue was completed by October 2009.
In 2012, Nimax Theatres' plans to build a new theatre in the Astoria's site were approved. It is unknown whether the theatre will be used for music as well as dramatic purposes. However, the site could not be built on until 2017 because it was being used for the construction of Crossrail.