Was just chatting about The Astoria and specifically the night that The Farm played and there was a massive fight while the singer was o stage going ‘eh eh what about altogether now’…
Anyway point is… What a top venue that was…
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Astoria was the first big club I went to as a nipper 17/18yrs old.
Too young for Trip/Sin.
Definitely got lost in there the few times I went 90-91, and recall being warned about potential trouble, although I didn’t see any.
Might have been the particular night (Crazy Club?), though.
Music was quite breakbeaty, but before it all splintered into rave/hardcore.
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Remember the Dionysus Kebab shop next door that used to serve the post gig/party crowd til the early hours? It’s pleasing to me that they’ve ended up relocated to where I now live in Southgate.
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Saw Gang Starr there, still one of my favourite gigs ever.
Was nice having some decent venues in central London. Much more easily accessible for us out of towners than having to get over to East (and back) as has inevitably been the case for most things in recent times.
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Definitely my favourite London venue - great sound and good view thoughout.
There was a period in the late 80s when we were parking in Soho Sq almost every weekend to go there or underneath to Buzbys (which became Astoria 2) for the The Mud Club.
I used to keep a ‘gig diary’ and just had a flick through - Love & Rockets / Julian Cope / Mantronix / PWEI / Big Audio Dynamite / Tackhead / Happy Mondays / Sugarcubes / Psychic TV / ACR / Courtney Pine / Living Color / Dinosaur Jr / Sonic Youth / Fishbone / Lemonheads / Ska Explosion '89 / Beatnigs / Bad Brains / Mudhoney / Nirvana (x2) / Jane’s Addiction / St Etienne / Blur / Henry Rollins / Soul Asylum / Artrested Development / Gurus Jazzmatazz
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I interviewed Robin King about Delirium last year. I was far too young to have gone but sounded amazing
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Oh man… that’s a great list. I was at st etienne if it was with world of twist 
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Met (and hugged) Frankie Knuckles there one night. It was either Sin or Made On Earth.
He played ‘DA Posse - The Groove’ for me.
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Thats it. No idea which was headlining as never liked WOT so they dont get a mention in my diary
@TimIndulge - Great list
Similair to what I could have seen at Rock City / Leadmill ( I bet Courtney Pine played but it didnt register)
Love N Rockets is a memory - Think saw them live & had a double lack 7"
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I remember Busbys
I went to Fun city there which was great - around 91 - Frankie valentine and Fabio etc
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Would love to read that… linky?
Was done for a book on the history of hip hop in the UK which shouldve been coming out around about now. Unfortunately the publisher i had signed with pulled out just before i was due to hand it in, so currently shopping around elsewhere. Thats proving more of a challenge than actually writing the book itself!
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Went to a bunch of things between late 80s and early 90s and have fond – if hazey – memories.
Heavy D and the Boyz, a Special Branch Do or two and then Trip. Can’t remember how many of the latter we went to but we were definitely there for the first and (if it was a different night) the one when everyone kept the party going afterwards on Charing Cross Road.
Later, when I was in a Wembley house share with a bunch of art school kids, we would go to an indie night there. When James’s Sit Down came on, guess what happened?
One thing that’s bugging me: I have a very vague recollection of a weird space up a side staircase, high up in the building, not a room specifically, no DJ or bar as far as I remember. More a wide corridor but large enough to hang around in. Am I dreaming this?
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What was the Sunday Tea Dance thing at Busby’s called?
Remember hearing Nightmares on Wax - Dextrous there for the first time, and it blew my mind.
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There was a pointles little foyer on the balcony level which was the only opportunity for a 2nd room at club nights, but it never worked
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Yeah, I remember it. The weird room wasn’t that.
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Is that where according to Balearic folklore Weatherall nearly got pinched when doing room 2 at the Trip?
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Love how it’s written like a pirate radio ad.
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