The Astoria in London is one of the capital's most loved music venues, and unfortunately it's being pulled down next week in order to build a new Crossrail train system. Whilst being a bit of a dump (it's the kind of place you can't stand still in for too long without becoming stuck to the floor) it's a really great, dirty rock 'n' roll venue, and there aren't enough venues like it left these days - mainly thanks to the increasing corporate sponsorship/stranglehold of venues.

I've been to several stand-out gigs at the Astoria, gigs that have really stuck in mind as being some of my favourites ever. These gigs were usually to see bands that can fill much bigger venues play small, low-key shows. I remember seeing the Foo Fighters (supported by Ash) playing 24 hours after seeing them headlining the Leeds Festival - I travelled over half the length of the country to see them at the Astoria - one night they were playing to 60,000 people, the next 2,000! I was lucky enough to see the Foos play there again a couple of years later and will never forget them playing  'Aurora' - it was awe-inspiring.

I also saw Audioslave's first UK gig which was at the Astoria - they were never the band they could have been on record, but live they were something else - the energy of Rage Against The Machine, with the vocal power of Chris Cornell was outstanding! Then again a few years later I saw Chris Cornell perform solo - another great gig with many highlights from his career, including several Soundgarden numbers.

And in 2006 I attended what was (and still is) the best gig I've ever been to. After not touring the UK for 6 years (and me never having seen them) I saw Pearl Jam perform the first show of their 'self-titled' album world tour at the Astoria, and by a bizarre twist of fate met all of the band afterwards. That gig has to be one of the loudest I've been to - maybe it was just my emotions running away with me, but you could feel the balcony swaying up and down that night as they played 'Alive' in the encore. This one stands out as my most vivid Astoria memory and I'd like to think that dark, dank, old building brought me a little bit of luck that night. So long, Astoria! Gone, but never forgotten!

We went on a little trip to London last weekend to do some of the touristy stuff we never get around to when visiting for gigs. I'll post more photos soon, but for now check out Steph, The Blonde Kid and the in-laws surveying the Dome from East India Docks in Canary Wharf. UPDATE: More photos can be seen here.

Monday night was the long overdue return of The Deciphers to the London toilet circuit - I went down with Stat to see the boys and we arrived nice and early, in time to grab a drink and chat with a few friends before the show. Despite being on stage at the very early time of 8pm there was a really good turn out and the reception the band got was great. The last two shows they've played have without a doubt be their best so far and I'm pleased to report that Monday's show continued that trend. Everything went swimmingly well - the sound was great (good work Gareth!), the boys played really well, they looked great and the whole thing came together perfectly. BBC Radio One DJ Edith Bowman was in attendance, along with Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows, and there were a few industry types skulking at the back, so hopefully they were impressed! Edith certainly enjoyed the gig and she gave the band a plug during her Radio One show the following day, calling them "a brilliant band...with really great pop songs" - not a bad bit of publicity for an unsigned band! Check out the audio clip below... [audio:edithbowman_deciphers.mp3] [tags]The Deciphers, The Barfly, Camden, London, BBC, Radio One, Radio 1, Edith Bowman, Andy Burrows, Razorlight[/tags]