Overview

Join Dave Thomson on a riotous night out centred around two important Brixton venues, where he regales us with tales from the not-too-distant past. You know. Pre-pandemic gigs? The old normal. Where you could mosh with strangers, collapse in a sweaty heap, share the same pint and round robin a rollie, without any of it feeling oddly strange or downright irresponsible. Does this all sound longingly familiar? Dave Thomson takes us on a first-person journey into the mosh pits of various London venues and beyond, boomeranging through space, time, gigs, and major life events, documenting a raging culture war against musical mediocrity, political alienation, social cleansing and the brutality of neoliberal economics. Dave joins the dots and makes the connections, as he shines a light on how this has fueled a creative explosion not seen since post- punk blew up across the Thatcher ravaged cities of early eighties northern Britain. A gonzo style close orbit around a disparate collective of misfits, who transform into some of the most era defining acts on the live circuit today, including Warmduscher, Goat Girl, Black Midi, Meatraffle and Fat White Family. We see the bands, meet the characters and experience the mayhem in all its pain and glory. WOO! provides context, narrative and plenty of laughs along the way, as Dave tries to make sense of the world in which we now exist, intensified further by the mind-bending impact of this pandemic. Amongst all the anecdotes, tangential stories, music and mayhem, friendships unravel as the seeds of new relationships emerge. Dave is yet to realise it, but tonight, for the first time in his life, he has found his people, his tribe and ultimately, his WOO!

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9781838156718

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Reviews

Written with a cutting perceptiveness akin to Hunter S. Thompson, and with Anthony Bourdain's ability to nose out juicy metaphors and similes, Woo! is a satisfying read. Like that venerable punk bible, Please Kill Me, or Henry Rollins' hallowed tome, Get in the Van, Woo! is equal parts how-to DIY guide and spiritual helpmeet for the souls of the moshers, the music-addled and the amp-deafened. Woo! is a free-wheeling gonzo history of the last ten-plus years of south London's fertile music scene. Ingrid Jensen (Totally Wired Magazine) I have always wondered what it would've been like to live on lower east side Manhattan in 1976 and hang out with the Ramones, Television, Talking Heads and Patti Smith. Having read Woo!, I realise I already know. Dan Carey (Record Producer/Speedy Wunderground) Dave has taken me back to my own album launch night, and in this quantum boomerang of a book he takes us on a journey into and out of his mind. He was there and now so are you. Beth Soan (Madonnatron) A written kiss on the pinkest parts of South London. Clams Baker (Warmduscher) The chronicles of the Windmill have been beautifully captured in this memoir. It's a mystery how he could remember these events, but I can confirm some of these marvellous accounts are as accurate as can be. Charlotte Aggett (Madonnatron) A love letter to music, friendship and questionable life choices. La Staunton (Reprezent FM) This book sums up what it's like to be involved in the Windmill scene and the crazy situations that you end up in. Dave Thomson has done this without being cultish about it and for that reason I fully endorse this book. Haydn Davies (Pink Eye Club) Get this vital piece of propaganda. Jamie Taylor (Phobophobes) I suggested to Dave he call the book 'The Chronicles of The Windmill', but he just kneed me in the balls and said, That sounds like the title of a f***ing Rush album! Zsa Zsa Sapien (Meatraffle) It's great to finally read the book Dave's been using as a social crutch these past three years. Seamus McCausland (Landlord, Windmill Brixton)

Author Information

Dave Thomson has a grade 3 Certificate of Secondary Education in English and lots of records.

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