Today's Music News

"Astoria can't be saved"

Bands react to closure plan

12 Mar 08 - Bands have been giving us their reaction to the news that London's Astoria venue is set to close to make way for the Crossrail development.

Jack Penate said: "It's an absolute disgusting travesty. I don't understand how they can justify bringing down something that has hugely influenced all the youth - I would go constantly and all my friends did. When you're growing up, that is the place."

Hard-Fi's Richard Archer added: "It's really disappointing - we seem to be losing all the decent venues in London. What are they being replaced with? Nothing that I can see really.

"A lot of these older venues, they have something about them as well. It's just one more gone, it's a real shame. I'm gutted - some of our favourite ever gigs we played at the Astoria."

London's Mayor Ken Livingstone said the most important thing in London is to try and sustain the city's live music venues. It comes after The Spitz and Hammersmith Palais both closed, and he's now developing a live music strategy to protect venues in the capital.

Details of his plans were published in a report that examined the future of small and medium sized venues, but he the mayor said it's too late for the Astoria:

"There are some instances where that just physically isn't possible," he said. "The construction of Crossrail means that the Astoria can't be saved."

This won't be welcome news for the 35,000 names on a petition to save the London gig arena, but the venue will be replaced.

"Where you're demolishing one, you've got to replace it with something better."
London Mayor Ken Livingstone on The Astoria

"We're basically putting in a vast train station but the developers that have actually drawn up the scheme for the area are replacing it with a larger live music venue," said Livingstone.

The mayor added that he's not totally insensitive to people's protests, however.

He said: "I understand the historics behind it, but it wasn't at the cutting edge of modern comfort and so, my broad view is where you're demolishing one, you've got to replace it with something better."

Jo Youle

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Comments so far

Clair Collins/London
Its an awful place contracting many seedy characters thank god its going!

Angela, north London.
Ken is so desperate to get back in, he is promising everything to everyone, so I am surprised about this. Still, he always had the aesthetic sense of a newt, so it figures.

Jon Dudley, Kent
I think it is disgraceful that Ken Livingstone has chose to close down the Astoria, you would think if the public want to keep the venue and 35,000 are willing to sign a petition to save it, i think that sends out a strong message and he should listen to the public as it is their London as much as it is his. The venue is amazing probally the best in London, so much history in their its incredible. To destroy it would be a great shame indeed.

Michaella, Canning Town.
How disgusting!! Myself and alot of my friends and family are outraged. Alot of great memories have been made there."...you've got to replace it with something better." The Astoria can not be replaced, it will never be as good as it is now.

Levitz, London
The comments from Ken just show he has absolutely no understanding of live music venues. As anyone into gigs knows bigger is not better and modern comfort has no place when you're in the sweat pit down the front. What about atmosphere and history? No, you're right Ken, we'd rather have a ticket hall, flats and retail space - all obviously sadly lacking in London. I'm 'sure' there was no alternative plan that could accomodate, I beleive TfL is also posing a threat to the Electic Ballroom. The Palais and Spitz are already gone, all I've heard forom Ken is lip service and demolition.

Jade Dickinson, Save the Astoria towers
I think it's absolutely disgraceful that Ken should decide to demolish such a brilliant venue. I've been co-running the Save the Astoria campaign for almost 2 years now, and the amount of support we've received from bands, Londoners and people from around the world is incredible. We've had support from Feargal Sharkey, Franz Ferdinand, the Cribs, Jamie T, Los Campesinos!, Kaiser Chiefs and many many more, and so many people have signed the petition that it seems ridiculous for Mayor Ken to be actively eroding London's cultural heritage in order to build a station for a Crossrail line that won't even be ready for the Olympics. What a shame.