Willow: The Final Night In Review

By Tom Butler-Roberts

UPDATE: Tommy Fong's farewell Willow speech.

Low expectations. Cheap booze. Cheesy music. Sticky dance floor. STICKY EVERYTHING. These are all things we associate with the Willow we have come to know and love. In the club where even the walls sweat, for years York students have found solace in the comforting arms of familiar pop songs by the likes of Steps and S Club 7.

However, as we all now very well know, in the early hours of Monday July 27, Willow shut its doors for the very last time ever. The following tweets are a snapshot in history and will stand testament to the legend that is Willow. At one point the queue seems so dire that we flirt with the idea of going home. Did we ever make it in?* Read on to find out…

*Of course we did.

Someone wrote a song to commemorate Willow. You can listen to it here while you read softly weep.

https://twitter.com/Claire_Chicken/status/625412069190443008
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https://twitter.com/YorkVision/status/625417764400971776

https://twitter.com/GraceT94/status/625418242136346624

https://twitter.com/HarryTwittaker/status/625424052593819649

[Nouse cowardly deleted a Tweet reply bizarrely saying “@YorkVision Is this tonight?”]

https://twitter.com/lxcymclaughlin/status/625418778621399040

https://twitter.com/horton_official/status/625388214770122752

https://twitter.com/imjackyeah/status/625443191408488449

https://twitter.com/imjackyeah/status/625428673768914944

I LITERALLY have shoes that say Vision on them. #CommittedToTheCause

https://twitter.com/zenajarjis/status/625431963286028288

(She's on about me btw, not you)

Apparently Galvyn wants to write for us? Contact us at [email protected], we'll sort you out Galvyn.

[From this point onwards, Chris Wall and Tron become a recurring theme.]

THE BIG MAN HIMSELF.

https://twitter.com/JimSummers93/status/625448424859635712

https://twitter.com/tomdavies111/status/625450468844662785

Some crackpots were convinced the whole night that the closure was just a ruse to gain Mr Fong extra publicity.

https://vine.co/v/egxae0OvljZ

https://twitter.com/YorkVision/status/625453448872521732

Not yours Chris.

That's the true Willow spirit Stefano.

"The Promised Land"

https://twitter.com/YorkVision/status/625480060842209280

View this post on Instagram

For two years I have Willowed. I have been the first to arrive and the last to leave. I have done seven days in a row until closing. I have had stamps all over my body. I have waited in the queue for hours. I have screamed along to Believe and slut-dropped to Timber. I have done the Macarena and the hoedown throwdown. I have lied to the DJ and said it was my 21st so he'd play my songs. I've passed out, been kicked out and had too many Sambuca shots than I should have. And now its doors are closed for good. So here's to the Willow regulars, here's to the music (cue Abba), here's to Tommy Fong, to my home away from home. Goodbye Willow and thanks for all the prawn crackers. https://youtu.be/0dcbw4IEY5w

A post shared by Dom Smithies (@domtheowl) on

By this point we had been queueing for over 3 hours according to Tron's stopwatch. External moaning, internal optimism dynamic was strong.

Sweet stamp of glory
Sweet stamp of success

I think Tommy will miss me too.
I think Tommy will miss me too.

https://twitter.com/YorkVision/status/625512295477694464

HE ACTUALLY SAID "the night is now over." :(:(:(

https://twitter.com/YorkVision/status/625512744800927744

https://twitter.com/YorkVision/status/625513456750469120

This last Willow was truly a spiritual experience.

https://twitter.com/YorkVision/status/625519534351454208

The carefree, feel-good vibe was so strong by this point that people literally started smoking on the dance floor. At least it's good to know the fire alarms always worked.

https://twitter.com/YorkVision/status/625524432115769344

That's Reach For The Stars by the way (obviously).

https://twitter.com/YorkVision/status/625526317010829312

https://twitter.com/MissSophieAnn/status/625526694942756866

I DON'T THINK I HAVE USED ALL CAPS ENOUGH???

LOOK at the timestamp.

If this is you, please reach out to us, we want to give you a medal for ending Willow in true tradition.

https://twitter.com/milanaknez/status/625572109603966976

https://twitter.com/Mellellar/status/625583582002679808

https://twitter.com/marie_mills/status/625588607298994176

https://twitter.com/axrolewicz/status/625600400947810304

https://twitter.com/e_cork/status/625655511376130048

Woo, go me

https://twitter.com/horton_official/status/625666471591575553

We still can't believe that it's actually over. Willow, we will miss you.

Because people asked:

OTHER MEDIA OUTLETS

The folks over at Minster FM made this video of the final night.

 

Someone documented a night at Willow in photos and it just makes us feel incredibly SAD now that it's gone forever. See Ceri Oakes's photos here.

 

We did.

 

3 thoughts on “Willow: The Final Night In Review”

  3. @Jo @luxurycombustibles Apparently the gift “needs to be prepared”! Keep an eye on York Vision social media channels for updates…

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