31/10/2008 Hanoi Rocks @ The Astoria

Subject	Hanoi Rocks @ The Astoria
PostedDate	10/31/2008
	A bit of a weird night, but it is Halloween.  Hanoi Rocks are playing at the Astoria - supporting Wednesday 13!  What the hell is all that about?  Hanoi Rocks easily sold out their show at the LA2 earlier this year and could probably have sold out the Astoria on their own. What's particularly sad about all this is that the band have now announced that they will be splitting up by the end of the year, so it looks like their last ever London show will be merely supporting a far inferior band.  It's not a good way to go out... No apologies for the shite pictures in this blog - if you want decent pictures, get a proper photgrapher with a proper camera! Sometimes I just want to concentrate on enjoying the show... This was a pretty good show by most band's standards, although it definitely wasn't as good as their London show earlier this year. Maybe the band weren't too happy to be supporting a lesser act at their last ever London show, or maybe they are a lttle demoralised because they are splitting up but they didn't seem to play with quite the same fire and excitement as they did only a few months earlier. If I hadn't been to that show (one of the best I've seen by any band in the last year) then I'd probably have been a lot happier with this one. The setlist was a good mixture of old and newer material. I was pleased to hear them play 'Tragedy' - which I think is still possibly their finest song, but no 'Taxi Driver'?  I suspected a lot of people would leave after Hanoi Rocks finished, leaving only the red and black dressed teenage girls to scream at Wednesday 13 - but I really couldn't be bothered to stay and see as I'd already seen the band and been less than impressed. I headed over the road to the Intrepid Fox instead. Naturally, they were celebrating Halloween in the pub - but then again it's Halloween in there every night!  Needless to say, the place was packed! Later on upstairs there was a turn from Lucy the sometime Intrepid Fox/SIN barmaid/belly dancer/musician. After midnight there was a performance from the now infamous Satanic Sluts Extreme dance troupe.  However, it was all over so quickly I hardly got a chance to take any pictures! Oh well, at least I got to enjoy some better and far more reasonably priced beer than earlier at the Astoria - well that's my excuse anyway!

PS: The Astoria was demolished to make way for London's 'Crossrail' project, and the Intrepid Fox closed in 2014 and moved to a new location in Archway.