(Photo by Chris Walkden)
So it’s farewall to The Astoria in Charing Cross Road, which closed last week to make way for a new station as part of Crossrail.
It was grungy, it smelled of sweat and stale beer, some of the door staff were knuckle-draggers, the beer was overpriced and rented rather than bought, and the toilets were hideous. But it was rock and roll, and we all loved it anyway.
The Guardian Music Blog has a lengthy comment thread in which people share their memories of the place. Since I’ve been living in Manchester during the period while I’ve been going to lots of gigs, I haven’t been there as often as some. My fondest memory of the place was the Mostly Autumn album launch back in 2007. Blue Öyster Cult was a great one back in 2002.
One hopes there will be a decent replacement – I’m confident that if there is a market for an Astoria-sized venue somewhere in central London that one will appear. I’m sure the capital could manage with one fewer venue for Andrew Lloyd-Webber musicals. Not that it would replace the Astoria overnight – it takes years for a venue to acquire character, and decades to acquire a history. But it will happen.
