Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Brief Published Histories of the Finsbury Park Astoria / Rainbow
I've just some across two interesting histories of the FP Astoria / Rainbow. On is a pdf put together by Islington Council (attached).
Another is a website published by an individual, Rick Burton. It has lots of interesting info and images. (One I notice is one of mine that I took on the tour I arranged of the cinema for HoL back in 2008. (Picture set on Flickr.). The same guy has now set up a Facebook page.
One new bit of info I learned from Rick's site is that there was a 2004 screening at the cinema after the UKCG had completed their excellent restoration. I found the Guardian article of the night here.
I thought some might be interested.
Tags for Forum Posts: finsbury park astoria, rainbow theatre
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Astoria FP 1936.pdf, 3.6 MB
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lesley Ramm on
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I saw the Who's Tommy there live way back when. Great venue and memories
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Permalink Reply by 0l7ft44vlytse on
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Wow from the outside I never would've thought it'd look like that on the inside
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Good that it's still there and in good condition, shame it's owned by a cult and local people can't use it for what it was intended for.
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Finsbury Park Rainbow theatre..deceased...
Yes dead right what were Islington Planners doing when they incompetently let a nationally famous public venue be given to a religious cult??? I went to see Frank Zappa in the 1980s but he fell of the stage and broke his leg!
Incredibly stupid to lose the boroughs most famous venue and cut it off from thousands of music fans. Was that start of the decades long loss of live music in London which no politician or party has had the guts to reverse? Truly one of the worst cultural disasters to affect London at the end of the 20th century. Mark N4.
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Your lucky it wasn't just bulldozed - as it would have been in Southwark and many other Boroughs.
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Permalink Reply by Richard Woods on
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Wonderful site! Such memories. I went to three or four of those concerts. Money was tight but we managed a couple. I especially remember the Beatles in 63. There was a row over kids bunking off to get tickets for the Christmas show and on opening night I (trainee reporter on the Hornsey Journal) blagged a brief interview with George Harrison. Asked him about kids playing truant. He said "good for them - bet their teachers were furious" or something like that. Long time ago now.
Amazing cinema/theatre. Remember Ten Commandmants, Ben Hur and a few war movies.
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Lucky old you Richard in getting a 1:1 with George Harrison ! A real feather in your cap. I was well into Beatlemania and I was one of those truants queuing up for that '63 Christmas concert......... a dream come true for me. The closest I ever got to a Beatle was when John Lennon passed within couple of feet in a doorway into The 14 Hour Technicolour Dream at Ally Pally, '67/69 time) ! Also saw The Stones at Astoria in '64.
But the décor and fittings at The Astoria was really fabulous. Different era.
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Hi - good to share the moment. Must admit I was well chuffed, however brief the encounter! In fact I got to see all four up close in 1966. We were in Tonbridge High Street and the traffic on a Saturday was appalling. All of a sudden one of the crew shouted out. He had spotted that big old psychedelic Rolls Royce (Phantom? Ghost?) stuck in the traffic. We walked up and there they were - all four! Windows tight shut and not looking to be approachable. Our opposition paper had a local photographer who was with us and so Dick Rideout stuck his camera up to the glass and took a shot plus a couple of the car. The Chauffeur wound down his window and said "Lucky we are effing running late or I'd effing have that off you!". We reported it in more measured tone!
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You're just trying to make me even more envious now Richard !!
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