Bands Show Disappointment At Astoria Closure

Members of The Futureheads and Hard-Fi have both shown their disappointment that the London music venue The Astoria is to be closed, following yesterday's announcement.

In response to news that a replacement venue will be built, Barry Hyde of The Futureheads told the BBC: "Venues should be dirty, they should be a bit smelly because smelly things happen in venues. Sweaty people had fun and The Astoria was always something that you'd look forward to."

Richard Archer of Hard-Fi added, "A lot of these older venues have something about them. They were built for live performance and this is one more gone. It's a real shame, I'm gutted."

The Astoria is to be demolished to make way for a new Crossrail service.