London Astoria
The front of the Astoria prior to demolition
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| Location |
Charing Cross Road, Soho London, WC2 United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°30′57″N 0°7′50″W / 51.51583°N 0.13056°WCoordinates: 51°30′57″N 0°7′50″W / 51.51583°N 0.13056°W |
| Public transit |
 Tottenham Court Road
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| Owner | Festival Republic |
| Capacity | 1,600 – 2,000 |
| Opened | 1976 |
| Closed | 15 January 2009 |
| Website | |
| festivalrepublic.com | |
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. It was also a famous venue in Britain's LGBT scene, for holding London's biggest gay new year parties along with G-A-Y.
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 were 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.
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 (now the Brixton Academy), 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. It was the venue for the last live performance by Richey Edwards of Manic Street Preachers. 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.
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Wikipedia