Film: W: A Return to Oz / Q&A with Director / Set from original Oz DJ & Promoter Dave Green

Event Information

Loaded up with film tape, an amateur filmmaker explores an abandoned rave house, once known as The Warehouse, that was once the beating heart of the South West’s clubland.

After the film there'll be a short Q&A session with director, Daniel Howard Baker, and DJ and Promoter David Green.
Then David will be dusting off his old vinyl, firing up the decks and performing a set that'll take us beck to the days of W – we'll return to Oz for a night!

“SYNOPSIS: Witness the rise and fall of The Warehouse, a rave venue from Plymouth and times gone by now reduced to a derelict shell. We explore its history, its people and the future. An amateur filmmaker-explorer finds the building in an empty derelict state, long after the prosperous life and energy it endured through the 90s. Through a combination of archives and stories of people who lived there, the film explores through the medium of analogue what once was and how even a now silent derelict shell can become the centre of the universe.

“UNION STREET: In the backdrop of The Warehouse is the infamous Union Street, a former cesspit of bars, clubs, drinkers, fighters, workers and lovers. The Union Street’s influence over Plymouth’s nightlife grew from the proximity to its historical Naval deports such as Mill Bay, Devonport and Torpoint, where young sailors after months at sea come on land to blow off steam. When it was first constructed between Plymouth’s divided cities of Stonehouse and Devonport in 1820, it was a wealthy plush estate. As it progressed into the 20th century, it became Plymouth’s red light district. A hyper concentration of Bars and clubs for the influx of Naval punters and to serve the local working class community entertainment and leisure.
Since the 80s and 90s, bars and clubs started to diminish. Places closed down or gentrified into apartments or just left astray to be at the mercy of the elements - abandoned and broken beyond repair. Confusions and neglect over ownerships and wanting to preserve the grade I and II listed buildings, we have now a ghost street of memory with its stories, characters and music ready to burst.


“Plymouth, like many places in the western hemisphere, has an epidemic of abandoned buildings and spaces. The idea originally came about to explore these buildings and their history and to compare and contrast to now. It’s a striking idea that all the buildings and spaces we hold dear growing up can be snuffed away in an instant as if it never existed and your memories of it mere dreams. I came across the former Warehouse club only through online threads and anecdotes, discovering a massive eye sore of a building that remained hidden and invisible to me growing up. But despite being invisible to the passer by or driver, it remains a sarcophagus of music and memory ready to explode. Plymouth is a city with the characteristics of everything great and terrible about Britain simultaneously. From its lush seaside views, heritage streets and culture to its concrete jungle estates, poverty and violent crime. In Plymouth, it is the best of times and the worst of times. The Warehouse, and the five or so clubs in its interior, had everything you want in a club - a diversity of music, people, drinks, drugs, strobes, chill outs, massive speakers and a MC to drive the night through - a microcosm for the grand state of clubland across the globe. With this exploration into W we explore the rest of Britain and the world in its decline and development and see what place nightlife and youth spaces have in our world as we progress into the new century. ”
Director, Daniel Howard Baker

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU5i3WapZr8