An event where groups of people share the same virtual space to interact as rave-culture pioneers is returning to the Midlands this month. Having debuted as part of Coventry’s City of Culture year, a new version of In Pursuit Of Repetitive Beats takes up residency at Warwick Arts Centre at the end of the month. And it’s promising to be an adventure with a difference - as creator Darren Emerson explains...

“It really has a life of its own now,” says East City Films’ writer/producer Darren Emerson, moved by how his immersive Acid House virtual reality (VR) experience, In Pursuit Of Repetitive Beats, has won a generation-spanning global audience. “It’s kind of exploded - people really connect to it!”

Since premiering during Coventry’s City of Culture year in 2022, the VR hit has enjoyed successful residences in Australia, Taiwan,  Scandinavia, the US and across Europe, with visitors both young and not so young emerging elated.

“They cry, they dance, they hug each other,” enthuses Darren, fresh from a sell-out run at London’s Barbican. “I guess they’re looking for that nostalgia, and that connection to something really special.”

Set in the early days of the Acid House movement, the one-hour experience transports would-be party-goers back to 1989, when illegal raves invaded remote fields and empty warehouses. Powered by a pulsating soundtrack of relentless electronic beats, they offered a thrilling and unfettered freedom away from the humdrum experience of daily life. But finding the exact location of the all-night (or all-weekend) party often required some serious detective work involving flyers, phone calls, pirate radio call-outs and mystery meet-ups.

“The piece itself obviously uses a lot of technology,” explains Darren, discussing Repetitive Beats’ widespread appeal. “But it talks about a time with very little technology. You’ve got a map and a torch. You don’t have a mobile phone, GPS tracking, or the internet. People were using pagers and FM radio, and people are fascinated about all those things now.”

Though Acid House was a uniquely British phenomena, Darren believes the collective euphoria that comes with a shared party experience is something we all recognise, transcending geographical borders, age groups and communities. “Whether that’s a nightclub in Taiwan or a big house party in Texas with kegs, it’s all about being young. It’s about adventure.”

Darren’s own clubbing epiphany came while studying film at university in Canterbury. The retiring son of a professional dancer, he shied away from bopping at family gatherings. But a trip to Club UK, in Wandsworth SW18, proved to be life changing. He may have missed the Second Summer Of Love, but the legacy of that explosion was still being felt throughout the 90s, redefining club culture.

“I had an amazing time, and that was a seminal moment for me, really... the experience of dancing and the feeling of connection and inhibition.

“That whole period, 1995/1996, was spent travelling around the South of England, going to raves in fields, disused railway tunnels, submarines! I lived with a guy who had decks, so we always got invited places. We were going off constantly, driving around the countryside in a Peugeot or VW Beetle, walking through fields ...”

Although the moral panic about Acid House had (largely) dissipated by that point, with legal raves having become big business, the excitement and connectivity remained intact.

“That sense of adventure is really grounded in the piece, which is really what people come for - that feeling of being young again, getting into a car with some people and you don’t know where the night’s going to take you. That’s the essence of this piece.”

Once graduated, Emerson (no relation to the Underworld honcho of the same name) worked for MTV, record labels (with Adele and Ed Sheeran on his CV) and issue-based documentaries (social housing, London 7/7), yet increasingly felt restricted by the typical talking-heads documentary format.

Outlining how countless documentaries feature seated figures recounting life-changing events, the producer says: “It’s great, but I want to be there! I want to feel it! So Repetitive Beats was an attempt to update that sort of documentary; to say, okay, you’re still hearing from people, but you can also experience it as well; you can travel through these different scenes; you’re able to pick up flyers; you’re in your mate’s bedroom tuning into pirate radio; you’re in the back of the car; you’re present ...”

Consequently, In Pursuit Of Repetitive Beats does feature first-hand accounts - from the likes of Nev Fivey (from Coventry’s pioneering Amnesia), Tony McCook (Black Crusader soundsystem), Mick Wilson (Parks & Wilson), MC Man Parris, and pirate DJ Lee Fisher (Starlight FM). However, these interviews illustrate a wider heroic quest, as the visitor attempts to navigate their way through an immersive and interactive CGI world.

Piecing it together has been a significant creative and technical challenge, one akin to a major film production.

“It utilises motion capture, volumetric capture, photogrammetry, 3D modelling, 360-degree video, 180-degree video, and standard video animation,” lists Emerson, before detailing the VR headsets, the role of audio, and the wearable tech vests.

“The haptic vests give you the feeling of bass, and work at certain points in the experience. For instance, when you’re walking around the warehouse, trying to find the entrance, as you get closer, you feel the bass coming through the vest - Boom! Boom! - which is there not only for the music, but also to give you a feeling of anticipation, of anxiety, a little bit of fear.”

The latest appearance of Repetitive Beats in the Midlands is the third, but the first for the new version. There’s still bangers from Orbital, Joey Beltram and Rhythmatic, and the same narrative arc, but V2.0 boasts a multiplayer upgrade.

“Four people can now experience it together - you can see each other in VR, and you can pick stuff up and pass it to each other.

“We thought it would be great to walk into that [virtual] warehouse at the end with people who you’ve been on a journey with, and dance with your friends. Going to a rave is such a collective thing, and you’ll see these other people coming out, and there is this moment of ‘Ohhhh!’

“People talk about VR as a hybrid between cinema, theatre and gaming, but it’s very much its own thing. For me, if it’s done really well, it’s a unique medium that can offer so much.”

In Pursuit Of Repetitive Beats shows at Coventry’s Warwick Arts Centre from Monday 29 September to Monday 13 October

By David Vincent