I was a student in Manchester in the seventies when punk and new wave were the big thing. I caught up with the New Romantics music whilst in London. In the eighties it was all about getting my qualifications and working for promotion. Family arrived and that was my life. The rave culture happened and it was just news headlines. I loved the music and often read about the rave gatherings that were taking place in Coventry and Birmingham. Sadly, I never attended a rave although the popular music of Orbital, Future Sound of London, Massive Attack and Underworld was very much a fav at the time.
When I read about “In pursuit of repetitive beats” at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, I knew that I must experience it. This art installation transports you into a wild and immersive VR experience. You are thrown into a story set in 1989 about attending an illegal rave around Coventry. The story focusses on three young people attending the event alongside the accounts by police who were trying to stop the illegal raves from taking place.
Once I was kitted out with Virtual Reality headset and hand controllers, I was ready to go into this virtual world. The experience was surreal. You followed the story by picking up leaflets with your virtual hands and there was a talking head providing information as you removed around your virtual world. In one part, I was flying towards a gigantic eye with electricity bolts steaming out of my hands. It was so cool. I became immersed in the story of an illegal rave. Realistic car journeys, the police chase and then the rave itself. All the time I was moving and dancing with the beats of the music. I must have looked a real sight whilst I was in a virtual world! Still such great fun. Attention to detail was spot on.
Whilst I am unable to provide pictures of the VR experience there were pre-show displays at the entrance to the experience. This detail is from the phone box display which was set up to show how people communicated and navigated to the raid before the advent of mobile phones.