Blog: So Long, Astoria
So it’s the last ever Astoria gig. Opened in 1927 as a cinema and converted to an exclusively music venue in 1976, London’s music cognoscenti have witnessed many of their favourite gigs here. And now they’re going to knock it down. Sad that its swan song gigs and clubs are proving disappointing:
Last ever gig: The Automatic, My Vitriol, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, The King Blues, Frank Turner, JJ72s (acoustic), Brigade, VV Brown, And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead.
Last ever club night at LA2/Mean Fiddler: DJs and Outcryfire, Open The Skies, F.A.T.E, Orakai, Your City Is Forgotten.
Metal Hammer Editor Alex Milas: “In truth, it’s great to see a last-ever event taking place but it’s a shame this place can’t go out with a bigger bang. Like tens of thousands of other people I’ve got incredible memories from that place – some of my best experiences as a music fan have been had there, and I can’t help but wonder why it is that every historic portaloo seems worthy of protection, but a venue like this that’s become an icon of this country’s proud musical heritage gets razed to pave the way for tourists attending an Olympics nobody’s asked for. Assholes. It’s like having a send-off for a beloved company veteran at a Wimpy. Still, I will be in attendance, wearing a very large coat, stealing fixtures. I hear Gill’s got dibs on the Keith Moon Bar sign. He has a bigger coat.”
Reviews Editor Jonathan Selzer on the final gig: “I think I’d rather remember it by Meshuggah playing, rather than by sneering at people dancing to emo tunes.”
Deputy Editor Caren Gibson: “I was gonna say I’d rather remember the Astoria from Airbourne’s gig. But then I realised I don’t actually remember it…”
Seems a little disappointing that one of London’s best loved live music venues will have a send off with what seems to be a handful of obscure UK bands and not the blow out it deserves.
Loading ...
I’m gutted
Astoria was where I saw my first live show (Disturbed – 2000) R.I.P Astoria.
There may not be any metal bands playing the last ever Astoria show……..But there certainly will be downstairs!
The London Astoria 2 is hosting the last EVER metal show & rock Club before the demolition crews roll in.
It’s all kicking off tomorrow night (Wednesday 14th Jan) at the LA2. From 9pm to 4am..
with live sets from;
OUTCRYFIRE
OPEN THE SKIES
F.A.T.E
ORAKAI
YOUR CITY IS FORGOTTEN
Plus some of London’s best rock/metal DJ’s.
It’s a massive Metal Party man!
We’re gonna give the venue the proper send off it deserves.
See you at the bar!
OUTCRYFIRE ARE INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great venue and my fave gig there was Slayer when they played whole of Reign in Blood as the encore and Lamb Of God were supportng
Are you for real? You think those bands are metal?
Farewell to a legendary venue, where I witnessed many REAL metal gigs.
You can’t seriously tell me, that when bands the size of Deep Purple have played Astoria in recent times, that they couldn’t have got someone whose name we actually know, let alone a band who don’t suck, to play at the Astoria’s last ever show. What a shame.
I personally happen to think Outcryfire are a bloody brill band! & certainly metal. heavy as fuck!
That sucks,,,
I saw Skinny Puppy there in 2005, we were guests of Krushers, and it was quite an experience, being at the ASTORIA, which I ve heard about for years and never thought I’d make it there, but I did. I am very sad to hear they are tearing it down,,,
Another one of Livingstones good ideas (before anyone corrects that Johnson is mayor, this came about before he was elected).
Seen so many of my favorite bands there! Saxon + Dream Evil, Nightwish, Twisted Sister, Dio, Devin Townsend + Kill 2 This to name a few. It genuinely feels like part of Metal history is being demolished. Someone steel one of the lightning bolt mirror things for me!
From what I’ve heard. The Astoria was due to stay open until end Feb, but then suddenly all gigs & clubs after the 14th Jan were cancelled & it was announced that that date would be the very last day doors open for good.
Demolition (this rock club at the LA2) was already booked to happen that day. So rather than being just a club night, they decided to put some bands on too. However, getting hold of big name bands at such short notice was not as easy as you’d think, even if it was the final night the place was open.
Some bigger bands even demanded large sums of money to play the show (which the club’s budget simply didnt allow). Others refused to play unless it was upstairs only (which the Indie bands had already bagged dibs on).
So there you have it, blame egos at the end of the day, but don’t diss the organisers. Without them, there’d be no ‘last show at all!
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly is awesome.
Shame about the rest.
I saw DragonForce at Astoria, thought it was a fucking fantastic venue. This is shit news.
Oh, so thats why the All that Remains ;The Haunted gig is moved to the O2 Academy Islington. All that history gone…..
I think everyone being negative can fuck themselves. Are any of you organising this gig. NO! Its fecking hard to get bands to play a night for free and all these acts have given up valuble time at very short notice to play these shows.
Saw my first ever gig there in 1995 i think, Silverchair, Everclear and Tripping Daisy. Great Night
Sam Duckworth (Get Cape) and Som Wardner (My Vitriol) have pulled this together with Larry in about 2 1/2 weeks. fair play for the effort. at least there’s going to BE a show..
Astoria is where i saw Children of bodom for the frist time (8th March EPIC NIGHT!) In Flames and many more.
It truly is an awesome place filled with so many memories and even though the buildings virtually crumbling, its still my fave place in London. Just the atmosphere when you walk past is amazing. You can relive the anticipation you feel when queing up the ally and running to mcdonalds before you go in. And when your inside you can feel the colourful atmosphere all around and know that so many people have had life long memories created within the walls.
May its memory long remain!
The night was amazing the bands rocked all over the place.
Cheers to everyone for their hard work Andy, Larry, Marc all the band at the Astoria and LA2 thanks for the memories.
This is like losing genitals. Painfully horrible left with memories of the good times.
Im so upset by this and have to say that we are losing a character not just concrete.
Where am I supposed to meet roadies with backstage access coming from the stage to a bar cos it won’t be at the Crobar now our beloved Astoria has been sent to death.
After the Olympics I expect a Church 600ft tall with a metal venue inside boasting amazing acoustics built in the Astorias memory.
I was at LA2 and the absolute highlight of the night were Open The Skies, who played an awesome set. It was well worth making the trip and a deserved send off for Astoria2.
was at the LA2 and thought ORAKAI a band i never heard of were awesome. hope to see them again real soon.
what can i say,it had all the famous bands there,from rage to toll to perfect circle to chris cornell and many many other bands.the reason that i loved that place so much it was because the sound quality and the security staff,always helpfull in trying to assure us a great night.the jumping and the stage dives were sometimes pushed by the security guys to make sure we had a good night as well without hurting anyone,the sound was like listening a cd from a very good cd player and hifi system.the place was the best of the best and not its going down for another atomoc waste.sad but true just like metallica said