The Windmill is a
pub
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...
and live music venue in
Brixton, London, England, with a reputation for championing new music.
It was voted the third best music venue in London, in a 2012 poll in ''
Time Out'' magazine,
and #7 by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' in 2008,
and has been described as "one of the top-10 music venues in the U.K.".
History
The pub was built in 1971 for the adjacent Blenheim Gardens housing estate. It was named after the neighbouring heritage site of the only lasting (and working) windmill (aka
Ashby's Mill) in the London area. It went through various phases of being a bar that attracted locals,
bikers, and the
Irish community; by the end of the 1990s, it was hosting DJs, poets and the occasional live bands.
Around 2002, the Windmill shifted focus onto live music. Early gigs included a semi-secret double bill of
Calexico and
Kurt Wagner (of
Lambchop) followed by a gig by
The 5.6.7.8's, just after they had appeared as the house band in
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...
's ''
Kill Bill: Volume 1''.
A
Rottweiler dog living on the roof of the venue (known as "Roof Dog") became the Windmill's mascot, until its death in August 2015.
Bands to have played gigs at The Windmill include:
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead,
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are an English Rock music, rock band that was formed in London, England, London in 1999 by co-founders Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, sampler) and Russell Lissack (lead guitar). Their first four albums all featur ...
,
,
,
Damo Suzuki
, known as Damo Suzuki (ダモ鈴木), was a Japanese musician best known as the vocalist for the German Krautrock group Can (band), Can between 1970 and 1973. Born in 1950 in Kobe, Japan, he moved to Europe in the late 1960s where he was spotte ...
,
Guillemots,
,
Los Campesinos!
Los Campesinos! are a seven-piece indie pop band from Cardiff, Wales, formed in early 2006 at Cardiff University. The band has seen several lineup changes– lead vocalist Gareth David Paisey and guitarists Neil Turner and Tom Bromley are the o ...
,
Scritti Politti
Scritti Politti are a British band formed in 1977 in Leeds by singer-songwriter Green Gartside, who is the sole remaining member of the original band.
Initially formed as a punk culture, punk-aligned underground act influenced by leftist poli ...
,
,
Stereolab
Stereolab are an English people, Anglo-French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's sound incorporates repetitive motorik beats with the use of vintage electronic keybo ...
,
and
The Vaccines.
In recent years, the venue has been connected with a resurgence of the South London guitar rock scene, due to frequent shows there by bands such as
Black Country, New Road,
Squid
A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...
, the
Fat White Family, and
Black Midi
Black Midi (stylised as black midi) were an English Band (rock and pop), rock band from London, formed in 2017. Their most recent line-up consisted of lead vocalists and multi-instrumentalists Geordie Greep and Cameron Picton, along with drumme ...
, the latter being a resident act from 2018 onwards.
References
External links
Brixton Windmill websiteFrommer's England 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Windmill, Brixton, The
Music venues in London
Brixton