Lights go out at London?s rock venues

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The very fabric of cool,  young London is in danger of disappearing as bean-counting property developers take over some of the capital’s most famous venues.

The legendary Astoria on Charing Cross Road, and stars’ favourite the Stepney night club are both doomed and now the Hammersmith Palais, immortalised by The Clash in their 1978 hit White Man in Hammersmith Palais, is facing the bulldozer.

After 90 years of concert promotion, the Palais – which is currently staging the highly successful Saturday night club School Disco – is to be knocked down to make way for offices, flats and a restaurant.

Never again will it play host to gigs by headliners such as the Rolling Stones, Justin Timberlake, U2 and Prince.

And nor will it see the sort of extravaganzas laid on by Sir Elton John to celebrate his 50th birthday.

Uber-cool indie band Hard-Fi played the NME Awards there and are devastated by the impending demolition.

Radio London DJ Robert Elms, whose parents met at the Hammersmith Palais, is also incensed.

“It’s all about knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing,” he said. “We’ll never get these wonderful places back and they will never be replaced.

“These things mean so much to Londoners – the place they first saw a gig or fell in love . This should be about a lot more than just money.”

The Palais in its various guises has been central to the British music scene since the 1920s, when it played a leading role in the introduction of jazz to the UK.

During the war it hosted tea dances, and went on to showcase generations of the biggest names in rock and pop. More recently it was the scene of a party organised by Prince William, and every Saturday night it hosts the notorious School Disco club.

Theme nights may have made the venue a hit but they have failed to block the Palais’ imminent demise.

Like the Stepney, which is to be replaced by a five-storey building of one and two bedroom flats, its nemesis is a private property developer.

Meanwhile, the Astoria in Charing Cross Road  is also facing the final curtain as contested plans for Crossrail call for its demolition.

Its only hope lies in the precedent set by the Electric Ballroom on Camden High Street, which was saved two years ago when Tube redevelopment plans were ditched after a public outcry.

That said, a new planning blueprint is looming which could once again put the Ballroom at risk.

And with the value of offices rocketing by more than 20 per cent last year and shops by more than ten per cent, the capital’s iconic buildings look set to remain hot targets for investors.