It was on the stage of the Astoria that The Beatles played their Christmas show over 30 dates in 1963, and Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar during a Walker Brothers tour in 1967.
But it was the period between 1971 and 1981 – when the Grade II* listed building was renamed The Rainbow Theatre – that the venue became iconic.
The list of gigs played there reads like a who’s who of rock and roll history.
Frank Zappa was badly injured in 1971 after being pushed from the stage into the orchestra pit.
David Bowie played three dates of his pioneering Ziggy Stardust tour in 1972.
Eric Clapton played his famous Rainbow Concert as a comeback in 1973.
And Bob Marley and the Wailers performed a legendary four-night run in June 1977 as the finale of their Exodus tour.
The building on Seven Sisters Road started life as a ‘super cinema’ during the interwar years.
It opened on September 29, 1930 complete with elaborate décor, organ, orchestra pit and extensive stage facilities for live shows alongside the movies.
During the 1930s you could enjoy cinema, a live orchestra, organ recitals, or variety acts alongside the cafés and bars. It later became an Odeon cinema and by the 1960s it was doubling as picture house and concert hall,.
As well as Hendrix and The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan, and Frank Sinatra all played the Astoria before the movies finally stopped in 1971.
Rebranded the Rainbow Theatre, it opened on November 4, 1971 with a gig by The Who under the management of American promoter and Woodstock organiser John Morris.
London’s new temple of rock saw gigs by Pink Floyd, Genesis, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Queen and Donna Summer over the following decade.
But successive operators struggled to meet the running costs of the huge building while paying the artist’s fees. The music stopped after a run of gigs by Elvis Costello in December 1981 as the operator of The Rainbow collapsed into administration.
It was used first by The Rainbow Christian Fellowship then the Elim Pentecostal Church before being bought in 1995 by Brazilian Evangelical organisation the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God who restored the crumbling auditorium and foyer.
