Astoria Theatre • London • UK

From Wikipedia:

The Rainbow Theatre, originally known as the Finsbury Park Astoria, then the Finsbury Park Paramount Astoria, and then the Finsbury Park Odeon, is a Grade II*-listed building in Finsbury Park, London. The theatre was built in 1930 as an “atmospheric cinema”, to house entertainment extravaganzas which included a film show. It later became an ordinary cinema, then a music venue, as which it is best known, and then an occasional unlicensed boxing venue. Today, the building is used by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, an Evangelical church. […]

The Beatles’ Christmas Show ran from 24 December 1963 to 11 January 1964.

It was at this theatre that Jimi Hendrix first burned a guitar, with the collusion of his manager Chas Chandler and a journalist from NME. Hendrix set fire to his Fender Stratocaster guitar on 31 March 1967, on the opening night of the Walker Brothers tour; Hendrix’s burnt fingers required treatment in hospital.

Renamed “Odeon” on 17 November 1970, the theatre was closed by the Rank Organisation on 25 September 1971 with Bill Travers in Gorgo and Hayley Mills in Twisted Nerve.

The Odeon was converted into the Rainbow Theatre (now with 3,040 seats), and the Who performed the first concert in the newly named venue on 4 November 1971. The Who later wrote and recorded the song “Long Live Rock”, which celebrates the theatre (although still referring to it as The Astoria). […]

Related concerts