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Amy Winehouse has played at the Astoria club |
Astoria plays final track as it makes way for Crossrail
THE speakers have stopped booming, the guitars have stopped strumming and the floors have stopped sticking as the famous Astoria club closed for good this week.
The “demolition party” was exactly that on Wednesday night, with hundreds of teary-eyed fans stripping the club of its signs and posters to grab a piece of music history.
The venue in Charing Cross Road will make way for the new enlarged Tottenham Court Road Tube station as part of the government’s Crossrail project – leaving a gaping hole in the capital’s music scene.
The venue’s future has been up in the air for some time, with numerous campaigns to save it, but the end was all too sudden.
So much so that the promised big ticket farewell event never really happened.
Kasabian, Damon Albarn and the Kaiser Chiefs were due to play at a final party yesterday (Thursday) but it was pulled because organisers ran out of time.
The final night proved more low key – a benefit gig featuring Get Cape Wear Cape Fly in aid of Billy Bragg’s Jail Guitar Doors charity.
The Astoria was built on the site of a pickle factory, opening as a cinema in 1927 before being converted into a 2,000-capacity music venue in 1976. It hosted an array of famous acts including the Beach Boys, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones and, more recently, Amy Winehouse. |
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