The Gaumont Cinema

*Please note all images are © of ww.wtobieloatesphotography.co.uk apart from the first 3.

In April 2023, the Gaumont Palace Cinema building, later known as the Plymouth Warehouse and Millennium nightclub on Union St, reopened its doors for a series of events titled 'The Awakening.' This was the first time the iconic venue would stage any kind of public event like this for many years, courtesy of ‘Nudge’ community builders.

It was opened in 1931, by the then Mayor of Plymouth, Alderman George Dymond and Lady Nancy Astor. Accommodating up to 2,300 people it would become one of the south wests most prolific entertainment venues for many decades. In the early 1960’s in partnership with Odeon, the building would be re-modelled into both a cinema and a discotheque as well as a roller arena in 1980. However, it was the rise of the rave and club culture in the late 1980’s, where the venue would start to see thousands of people travelling to Plymouth every weekend, to party to the countries top DJ’s.

In 1992, a Plymouth club night originally started in the quay club on the Barbican, ‘Cultural Vibes,’ would move into the Warehouse building. Over the next 2 years, 2,000 clubbers every Saturday would pack the venue out, with it becoming recognised nationally as one of the UK’s top ten dance music clubs. In 1995 in a dark turn of events, the Cultural Vibes night would have to make way for a new and more commercial promoter known as ‘Scream,’ some say marking the end of a ‘Golden era’ of alternative club and rave culture.

Since then the building remained as a nightclub in different shapes and forms, before being purchased in the early noughties and controversially run into disrepair by ‘God TV.’ Supposedly bought for their main broadcast headquarters, it would remain completely closed to the public until 2018, when it was used as one of the cities main venues for an international art exhibition titled ‘The Atlantic Project.’ This helped spark a renewed interest in the building, with ‘Nudge’ acquiring the site in 2020. Their aim was to breathe life back into the once much loved venue, whilst also seeing if there was still a gap in the market for a medium sized club in the city and get the building back into long term sustainable use.

During the 'Atlantic Project' I was lucky to visit the exhibition several times over with my camera. Like for many others this would be the first time I would set foot inside the building for about 20 years. On one occasion, I found myself in the main room on my own with no-one around apart from a couple of stewards downstairs. This was an incredible and quite surreal experience and allowed me to shoot many pictures. Shortly after posting some of the images online, I was contacted by Dave Green, aka DJ Verdi, the founder and creator of 'Cultural Vibes' who asked if I could get some shots of him in there. Dave had recently returned from living in New Zealand and was in the process of putting on a range of nights in another venue in the city. We shot some great images (below) and reminisced about the venue in the 90's, wondering what the future would hold for the building.

With the news that ‘Nudge’ would be putting on a range of nights there in April 2023, everyone lucky enough to have experienced those events back in the early 90’s could not wait to relive their magical memories once again. This would also include a one-off ‘Cultural Vibes’ night, hosted by Dave Green, along with many of the original resident DJ’s and production crew. The following images taken from that night on the 29th of April 2023, serve as more than just great memories of 650 middle aged ravers reliving their youth. They also serve as a reminder of what happens when several hundred like minded people, a certain energy and an iconic building come together and why we need to protect and sustain such venues for generations to come.

2024: The building continues to be used sporadically for the private hire of small scale filming, music rehearsal and educational projects. Work has started on the ground floor to convert into 14 office/workshop units. No large scale events can currently be held in the upstairs main arena until the ground floor works are complete. Watch this space................