I went to some great gigs there including shows on my 18th and 19th birthdays. The highlights included my discovery of Metronomy and my first time seeing Los Campesinos! live and I had hoped to see many more there in the future.
The reason behind the demolition of the Astoria is because that area is to become part of a new cross-London rail service. Previous Mayor of London Ken Livingston put the final nail in the coffin last March, but at the same time promised a new venue nearby. I'm not entirely sure of his sincerity in that matter at the time and the fact that he has now been replaced in office by Boris Johnson probably means that those plans are even less likely if not forgotten completely.
Another point of contention for me is the fact that the new venue that Livingston promised is supposed to be bigger - we don't want bigger! At the moment it seems that there are not enough 2-3000 capacity venues in London. Even if they were to build a new one it would not have the history that the Astoria had, a great example of this is Radiohead's Live at the Astoria DVD of their performance there in 1994. For decades now it has been a cornerstone in many band's careers to play at the Astoria on their path to fame; I mean, even Nirvana played there!!
Perhaps most enraging is the fact that the Astoria had to cancel it's final send-off party because Transport for London gave them 28 days notice to get out, which did not give them enough time to organise it. I mean honestly, I know this is not the death of a person, but where is the respect!?
Oh well, goodbye Astoria, you shall be missed.
Rob
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