One of London’s greatest and most beloved music venues of all time! Opened in 1927 as a cinema, turned into a theatre between 1976 and 1985, the glorious London Astoria was active as a music venue from the 3rd of August 1987 to the 15th of January 2009 and has since been demolished as part of the development plans of the Crossrail project. In 2012, Nimax Theatres’ plans to build a new theatre in the Astoria’s site were approved, but works started only in 2017. That means the first shows won’t run until 2021, as 2020 has been taken over by the covid-19.
Amongst those who played here over the years were Nirvana (two songs from the recordings made by Craig Montgomery from their show on the 12th of March 1989 are on the live compilation album From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, released 1 October 1996), Oasis, Radiohead (they released a whole gig on VHS on 27 May 1994 under the title Live at the Astoria as did Jamiroquai in the same year) and The Rolling Stones (in 2003 wanting to play at a smaller venue). The Smashing Pumpkins recorded and filmed the live performances of Soma and Silverfuck in February 1994 (which appear on Vieuphoria DVD and the Earphoria CD). Generation X reformed for a one-off concert performed at the venue on 20 September 1993, whereas Metallica played a secret gig in 1995 at Astoria 2 (later known as the LA2) at 165 Charing Cross Road.
Address: 157 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0LA
@Rockandrollogist 