London Astoria

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**London Astoria**
Venue
Location:	Soho, London
Rooms:	1
Layout:	theatre style
Promotions:	G-A-Y
Licensing
Capacity:	2,000
Licensing authority:	Westminster
Business
Opened:
Owner:	Mean Fiddler
website

The front of the Astoria

The London Astoria is a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road in London, England. It has been leased and run by Mean Fiddler Music Group since 2000.

Built on the site of a former factory, it opened in 1927 as a cinema. However, it was converted for theatrical use in 1976 and is now exclusively a music venue with a capacity of 2,000. The Astoria is connected to the Mean Fiddler such that the two venues can function as a single venue where needed. By far its busiest nights are the G-A-Y promotions.

It has played host to many up-and-coming bands, such as Radiohead's performance for MTV in 1994 and the grunge band Nirvana in 1989, as well as world famous bands wishing to play low-profile shows, including The Rolling Stones in 2003, Pearl Jam in 2006 and Oasis's first performance of their 2005 tour. Blur also played a five-night residency in 2003. The venue plays host to the popular nightclub G-A-Y, which sees many celebrities visit and perform music for the assembled crowd.

Mean Fiddler acquired the lease for the London Astoria in May 2000, 'securing the future of live music at one of London’s most famous rock ‘n’ roll venues.' It has since been the primary choice for well-established bands' intimate club gigs in London. Big names to have played the Astoria include Oasis (band), The Rolling Stones, Blur, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, and Foo Fighters.

Only two unsigned bands have managed to sell out the Astoria, the first being The Darkness and more recently Enter Shikari.

However, the Freehold was sold in June 2006 by Compco Holdings property group Derwent Valley Central for £23.75m, who plan to convert the site to a combination of shops, flats and offices to raise money during the Olympics. It will continue to be rented to the Mean Fiddler group for £1m per year until 2008. The venue is also under threat from the Crossrail project, who plan to demolish the building to build underneath.^{[citation needed]}

In the meantime, a petition has been created by two UK students to prevent the demolition of the venue.