A Tribute To The London Astoria

Rock Sound presents an all-star tribute to the legendary London Astoria.

Posted Wednesday, 14 January 2009 in

A Tribute To The London Astoria So we sadly say goodbye London Astoria today as Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly hosts possibly the last ever gig at the converted cinema and music institution.

Rock Sound will be sad to see it go, so will so many others who kindly offered up their memories of the much beloved venue. Blow jobs, botched gigs and a billion other things inbetween...London Astoria you will be missed!

Matt Davies-Kreye, Funeral For A Friend
''When we released 'Casually Dressed...' our headline show in London in support of the record was at the Astoria. It was such an exhilarating experience. The audience were completely in synch with the music. It's such an intimate yet expansive venue. It's sad to see one of the musical cornerstones of London's touring circuit becoming a casualty. It's really quite gutting to see it go and I will miss looking out from that stage into the eyes of like minded people who all came together under that roof to be a part of such warm, passionate and expressive musical moments.''

Jamie Farrell, The Nothing
''One of the greatest gigs i ever went to was AFI at the Astoria in Feb 2003 I couldn't get tickets as it had long been sold out so my friend and Rock Sound Features Ed Darren Sadler got me on his guest list with him! We stood in the VIP area and I was in awe as on my right was Gwen Stefani! As much as as i loved gawping at her I was in dremaland watching AFI they played one of the best sets I've ever seen.''

Jonah Matranga, Far
''First time in the UK, 199(6?)
Playing with Deftones
Dark, labyrinthine hallways
Leading to big, sparkling darkness and The Ocean
Singing to it, hearing it roar (thanks always, Robert)
Diving in
A sudden, aggressive kiss from a gorgeous young woman
Everyone reaching and pulling and together
My belt ripped off by a fan or security or someone
On the way back up onstage
I'm literally holding up my pants by hand as I sing, laughing
She of the front-row moment somehow finds me
A tiny, bright room somewhere in the maze
My pants
Down they came
Down she went
Sweat and adrenaline and senses
Rock fantasy manifest
I let go
Goodbye, Astoria''

Andrew Kelham, Rock Sound
''I used to spend all my money traveling to London with friends to watch all sorts of shows at the Astoria. We always had the same dilemma at 11pm neared, do we stay for the encore or do we leave now and get the last fast train home. We usually opted for the former, school, work and whatever else tomorrow held could wait.Thus I spent most of my teenage years knackered, broke and with ringing in my ears Regrets? Absolutely none.''

Kyle Divine, Dusty Rhodes & The River Band
''We played the Astoria while we were on tour with Dirty Pretty Things, it was our first big show in London. When we walked into the venue, it looked huge! Definitely bigger in real life than in the photos. The backstage area was like a maze, I remember having to going through something like 20 doors and 50 flights of stairs to find our green room. The venue had a great energy. The show we played was sold out and everyone there was drunk and rowdy - one of the best crowds we've ever player for. For us, it was one of the most memorable nights that we had in the UK on that tour.''

Oli Sykes, Bring Me The Horizon
''"The Astoria is home to what is still our biggest ever headline show. The first time we played it, I couldn't tell you how scared we were! I remember being exhausted before getting on stage just from panicking so much! It's a great venue and we will be sad to see it go!''

Darren Sadler, Rock Sound
''I saw Slipknot's first ever UK show at The Astoria. Needless to say it was amazing and lived up to the expectations that surrounded the band at that point. It was nice to be part of history in the making. Needless to say watching Coal Chamber play at the same venue when they played with the brilliant Type Of Negative, wasn't such a classic moment!''

Eggsy, Goldie Lookin Chain
''The Astoria has given us many hours of pleasure over the years and I’ve always been surprised at how friendly everybody there is. My fondest memory was probably us (Goldie Lookin Chain) playing a massive sold out show there and it blew the roof off, afterwards there seemed to be a disco upstairs and I wanted to use the showers to freshen up, so up I went with my towel and every single man at the bar greeted me, one of them even stood out side the shower whilst I got washed and waited for me...never in the history of GLC have a group of men been so accommodating, I wasn’t so sure about the disco music though.

You will be missed even with your rancid stench in the stairwells and sticky floors.''

Jozef Norocky, Rinoa, Symmetry
''i got with my first girlfriend at a Cradle Of Filth show there. Thanks for the goth-love Astoria, I owe you one. Also, I nearly got killed watching an amazing Slayer show, and that was the best near death experience I've ever had.''

Aled Phillips, Kids In Glass Houses
''I'll start by saying that it's a fucking travesty that the magnum opus of our little musical world is being demolished to cater to impatient travellers. The first time I went to the Astoria was to see Bright Eyes in, like, 2004 and I fell in love with it instantly. The first time we played the Astoria ever was with Lostprophets on Valentines Day 2007. I think it was the most nervous I've ever been before a show, just because of the relevance and influence of the place. We were lucky enough to headline it at the end of last year - an achievement we'd always set as a benchmark and that we will never, ever forget. It was a soggy eyed moment. There's something special about the Astoria that doesn't exist anywhere else - I'm sure New Yorkers felt same way about CBGBs. It's a sad, sad day. In these faithless times, that were our church, that were. Fuck you, Livingstone. Fuck you.''

Claire & Paul, A Badge of Friendship
''Our good friends Biffy Clyro, Hell is for Heroes and Aereogramme have all played at the Astoria at one time or another so we have really great memories of our time watching them, partying and hanging out there. It was a great venue, always buzzing. The sound, the atmosphere and the bands that took to the stage were just fantastic, it's going to be sorely missed, there will be nothing like it ever again we're sure.''

Josh Franceschi, You Me At Six
''On the day of our headline show we were all shitting ourselves. No one was putting pressure on us, but we had built this day up in our heads for the last three years that we wanted everything to be perfect. Best night of our lives and I am so happy we have it on film! RIP The Astoria!''

Jen Walker, Rock Sound
''I saw Nine Inch Nails and Incubus do one-off shows at the Astoria and will always remember the amazing atmospheres. From the start of both shows until the end, the crowds (which was full of die-hards) went insane and sang every word. Easily the best NIN and Incubus shows I've ever been to and I've been to A LOT of their shows.''

George Noble, Your Demise
''I've been to shows and played at Astoria, Both have been an honour. From smashing my elbow to pieces at Hatebreed to Sharing the stage with Biohazard's original line-up recently. It's gonna be a huge shame to see it go.''

Ginger, The Wildhearts
''The Astoria has always been a favourite of ours. It's one of the few venues anywhere that actually looks bigger when you're onstage. I've seen some amazing shows there, from surprise sets by Prince (with an all star band featuring Chaka Khan), to Queens of The Stone Age turning off the PA during a quiet part then turning it back on when it got heavy (awesomely effective) to feeling our unborn first child dancing to Therapy? where he'd lay, worryingly unimpressed by Filter. Golden moments.

I've played my favourite shows there, from a legendarily drunken Xmas Wildhearts show in 1998 through to supporting Napalm Death in 2001, as a solo 3 piece, under the name Gingers Angry Youth, enabling us to use the huge, flashing GAY sign overhead for the club later that evening.

The place has been about to be pulled down more times that Keef Richards, and still it has stood as proud as the king of Stones. To see it finally bite the dust is hard to imagine. I still don't think it will. It just hasn't sunk in, y'know? I could be walking past the Astoria as a pile of rubble in Charing Cross Road and I'd still expect to see a huge queue trying to get an overpriced Stella from the Keith Moon bar.

Everything changes but the memories and the Astoria has provided more than most. The only legacy that any venue has a right to expect. R.I.P.''

Ben Dawson, Palehorse, Million Dead
''The Astoria is the scene of one of the worst gigs of my life. It was the first time we ever played there with Million Dead and everything that could go wrong did go wrong. We were better the next few times. Shame we never got to play there with Palehorse, it would have been a cheap demolition at least.''

Nergal, Behemoth
''We played in Astoria several times and I always love it, great venue and probably the best London shows for Behemoth ever! The Astoria will remain as a legendary place that bring great memories only!''

Darren Taylor, Rock Sound
''I've seen so many gigs at The Astoria - one of London's finest venues. Slipknot's debut UK show, the NIN show that Jen Walker mentioned above, My Chem's first ever gig supporting Brand New... the list goes on and on. See Aereogramme supporting Thursday was a particularly special moment too. However, what about the Astoria II - the dingy downstairs ugly sibling. I've seen plenty of bands there too. Isis' first ever UK show where they pre-sold 666 tickets - freaky! A Foo Fighters club show was a blast too. So many memories. I even met my future wife at The Astoria back in 04. There you go! ''

Paul Gray, Slipknot
"I can't believe the Astoria is closing down! In '99 we played there for the first time and sold it out, so it's always held a very special place in my heart. That was our first time in England, let alone our first overseas tour. I remember the show was fucking awesome and the fans were FUCKING CRAZY! Here's a funny story: I was walking around on the second level without my mask so no one recognized me and Bjork happened to walk by. It took me a couple of seconds to gather up the nerve, but I went up to her and told her I was in Slipknot and gave her an all access pass so she wouldn't have to walk around in the crowd but she did anyway! After the show she came back when we were done and said it was amazing and that it was one of the coolest shows she had seen! We were speechless because it was Bjork standing in front of us! It's a great place and it is a shame that it will no longer be there. We will
miss The Astoria greatly!''

Mike Griffiths, Attack! Attack!
''Shit parking, shit dressing rooms, toilets overflowing with piss. What more could you ask of a legendary venue! Will be sorely missed.''