Goodbye to the London Astoria
One of our favourite central London venues bites the dust
(Photos/words © urban75, Jan, 2009; updated Sept 2009)

Opening as a cinema in 1927, the Astoria was built on the site of a former pickle factory near St Giles' Circus, in Charing Cross Road, central London (opposite Centre Point).

The venue was converted for use as a theatre in 1976, running shows up to 1985 before being exclusively used as a music venue and night club, with a capacity of 2,000.

Some of the world's greatest bands have played at the Astoria, including the Beach Boys, Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Blur, Radiohead, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Megadeth, Alice Cooper, Oasis, Amy Winehouse, Prince, U2, Eminem and The White Stripes. It also saw the last performance of the Manic Street Preachers' Richey Edwards.

The venue closed on 14th Jan, 2009 to make way for the construction of a new station for the Crossrail project.


Overhead view of the Astoria taken from Centre Point, July 2009 (pic: spitfire).


Zooming in, you can see that the stage and auditorium are just starting to go, July 2009 (pic: spitfire).


January 2009 views.












January 2009 view.


Looking up from a similar viewpoint, September 2009.






















Around the back of the venue, Jan 2009.


Similar view from September 2009, showing just the ground floor of the building left.




September 2009 view revealing the large space where the venue stood.


November 2009: not a trace left!



SOME GIG MEMORIES


Amy Winehouse's sensational gig at the Astoria, Feb 2007.








Le Tigre at the Astoria, April, 2004.





Discuss your memories of the Astoria on our bulletin boards:
The Astoria. Your memories?
CPO for Astoria music venue, central London, issued



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