No last party for Astoria

The Manumission party that was planned to take place on January 15th has been cancelled due to lack of ticket sales. This means that the Astoria will no longer have a final farewell party.

Jeremy Joseph, promoter of G-A-Y who virtually ran the venue for the last 15 years has criticised the venue’s owners for not allowing gay London one last party.

He said: “It was my dream to go back & do one last night at The Astoria & in fact I offered to do the very last night, I wanted to do a party that was going to be free entry, so that everyone could afford to come & say goodbye but unfortunately the owners of the venue chose Manumission instead, probably because they thought they would make more money rather than choose customers who gave them 15 years of loyalty, well that event has now been cancelled due to lack of ticket sales, so well done on Astoria management for once again failing a much loved venue. The reason I’m telling you this, is because I know lots of people wanted to go back for one last night & so did I & I just wanted you to know that I tried & that although buying & moving to Heaven was about securing a future for G-A-Y. The Astoria hasn’t been forgotten & holds a special place in my heart. The last couple of weeks I’ve spent a lot of time going down memory lane thinking about a place I called home & that’s why I am so disappointed that we weren’t given the chance to go back & give the venue the send off it deserved.

“Shame on the owners & management, for allowing this week, for the Astoria to close with a whimper rather than the big bang & party it deserves, so even though the gay community hasn’t been given the chance to go back & say goodbye, please think of some of the great nights we have had there, remember the venue for all those amazing nights, the people we met, the relationships we started, the people we have lost but most importantly think of the people in your life now because of the Astoria.

“G-A-Y at the Astoria was more than a club it was a family & the Astoria was more than a venue it was our 2nd home & I would never have moved G-A-Y if this weeks closure wasn’t to happen. The Astoria should never have been knocked down for cross rail, it should have been saved & part of the project, the venue should never have been run down, it should have been preserved & carried on being the focal point of the centre of London. It’s a shame that the love we had for this historic venue wasn’t shared by the owners & authorities.

“Thank you Astoria for the past 15 years, together we made G-A-Y the highest profile gay club in world, together we achieved positive coverage in the national press, together we had the time of our lives. There is so much more I want to say, but mainly, Astoria, Thank you.“