Astoria to Tell

The last thing that any visitor to, or native of, London will tell you we need here in the bustling metropolis, is more shops and offices. It is already the case that small independent shops of the type that Twelve Bar aficionados will be familiar, whether record outlets, quirky clothes stores, or even just a local deli, are being forced out of business by the tide of commercial capitalism which is flooding our streets with corporate logos and washing away their very souls in the process. And the geography is to a certain extent irrelevant, as the forces at work in Britain's cities are also sanitising cities across the world, including the US. It wasn't just Giuliaini who cleaned up New York!

But music lovers in London have a particular reason to be affronted at present, with the seemingly irreversible decision that one of the most well known live venues in the heart of the cities is to be closed down and redeveloped. The Astoria, built as an inter-war music hall in 1923, was converted into a pure music venue in 1984 and in its time has hosted virtually every big band, and plenty of smaller artists on their way up, than it is decent to recall - Bowie, Oasis, U2, Nirvana, Rolling Stones, Prince, Madonna, Eminem. And it is not just the pop and rock royalty who have graced the grime and sweat of the fondly shabby venue. I myself have enjoyed shows by N.E.R.D, Dizzee Rascal, The Coral, Spearhead, CSS, The Hives, The Roots and many more there.

It is one of those venues that has plenty of drawbacks for the gig-goer, from layers of dirt to poor visibility in parts, and the ability to turn into a sweat-box very quickly, and yet it is rightly celebrated and seems to encapsulate the meaning of live music in it's very fabric. It is the place where bands on the verge of hugeness play. And now it's very existence is hanging by a string, seemingly soon to be bulldozer fodder despite 15,000+ signatories to an online petition and lots of luminous backers from the world of entertainment. And for what? Well you already have the answer to that. London is blessed with some great venues, from the Jazz Cafe to Koko, and Bush Hall to the new o2 arena, but that doesn't mean we can afford to lose one.

We have already lost legendary spots such as the Marquee, Hammersmith Palais and the Rainbow. If it was a museum or art gallery under threat in this way surely the government would step in and save the building as an important heritage site, as they should, but not in this case. Maybe gatherings of music fans still scare authority in some way. Maybe people really do just want to be able to get a mochaccino every 25 yards in central London. All I know is that music lovers all over should sign up to register their disapproval.

Because next time it could be your favourite spot that makes way. Go to http://www.petitiononline.com/savethea/ to pledge support.