Full disclosure: my enthusiasm for guitar bands meant the illegal rave scene of the late 80s and early 90s passed me by, making this virtual reality (VR) trip into its world unique in more ways than one. And In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats, created by artist Darren Emerson, is certainly unique. The fully immersive VR experience involves attendees donning a headset, haptic vest and hand controllers (all firsts for me) as well as headphones, before diving headlong into meticulously-recreated living rooms, cars, streets, motorways, warehouse clubs, police stations and, oh yeah, the music of 1989.

The ground-breaking experience was created for, and is essentially about, Coventry, which was close to a number of illegal Midland rave venues as well as home to the Eclipse, the UK’s first legal all-night club. The documentary-style show premiered during Coventry’s year as the UK’s City of Culture in 2020-21 and has toured the world ever since, with this latest iteration upgrading and expanding on the original.

The revised version adds, and embraces interactivity, giving attendees, in groups of four, the chance to interact with each other (everyone is a different coloured avatar) as well as share the collective experience. How much interaction will depend on who you go with, but from where I was standing (and you daren’t try to sit down on any of the virtual furniture) it definitely added to the overall effect. Not only do you get a feel for what others are experiencing, you can pass things (such as mix tapes, event flyers and all-important ‘time-to-go’ pagers) to one another in the virtual space. In my case it also meant I could get some input from people who were into the scene at the time, knew their Orbital (although even I recognised Chime) from their Joey Beltram, Amnesia House from Sky Blue Connection and, well, the less said about their recollection of associated recreational drugs the better.

Not that they needed to remember that much, as the show is largely a history lesson – delivered by some of the original organisers and DJs, albeit apparently wearing rose-tinted headsets of their own (was the rave scene really all about peace and love?) – as well as “a journey into sound” that gives attendees the opportunity to join revellers as they race from dingy bedroom to sweaty club via a bumpy ride in a Peugeot 205.

Not surprisingly the whole thing is quite a (nostalgia) trip, as well as occasionally trippy, particularly when the visuals turn abstract and bounce along to the pulsating Acid House beats. A little more of that transcendental element would arguably have made for a better balance with the documentary-style side of proceedings (the police investigator’s room is dull in comparison), but for creative ingenuity this cutting-edge show, made by people evidently enamoured with its subject matter, takes some beating.

Four stars

Reviewed by Steve Adams at Warwick Arts Centre on 29 September. In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats continues at the venue until 13 October.