In 1988 British youth culture underwent a massive transformation, the music turned to acid- house and the drug on the scene was ecstasy. It all started in the Balearic island of Ibiza in 1985. The islands carefree and 24-hour party vibe influenced young DJ Paul Oakenfold. After his spontaneous visit, he made it his mission to bring the Ibiza nightlife back to rainy London with him. His first attempt did not go to plan, but this only motivated him more.

 

He planned his second trip to the island that never sleeps in 1987, to try one more time. When he returned to London he started introducing acid- house records into his DJ sets. Clubs in England at this particular time were only playing one type of music, but this was all about to change.

By 1988 acid house had become a phenomenon within London’s nightlife. This high only lasted a year and a half, but during that time everyone was in a haze of peace, love, and unity.

After all this time the spirit of raves is remerging again amongst the youth of Britain, and it is more popular than ever. This dynamic culture has taken over London, it is seen in nightclubs such as Egg, Fire and Lightbox and also festivals such as Elrow and Boomtown.

It is a culture where community is key and money is insignificant, so no wonder it is becoming more popular than the regular night clubbing scene amongst 18-25 year-olds.

Rave culture for many is seen as a negative way of enjoying yourself, as people associate drugs, bad behaviour, and illegal activity to this particular form of ‘partying’. It is a sub-culture that many have prejudged and have biased opinions on, due to the stigma that the media has created around raving. This all started due to the rise in illegal raves across London.

Once rave culture became popular amongst the youth of Britain, they were forced to battle and defend for their right to have a good time. Section 63 of the 1994 Criminal Justice Act was a law created in order to control and threaten the UK rave scene.

This particular law gave police the power to shut down events that were “characterised by the emission of succession of repetitive beats”. Illegal raves are still considerably present within today’s society, they are usually held in isolated outdoor venues or abandoned buildings and are well known for illegal drug use.

The unlicensed rave scene has been spread across all forms of media. This has resulted in society associating all types of raves with illegal behaviour. Legal rave culture is exactly the same as any other form of nightlife within London. It is a community of individuals who enjoy listening to a particular genre of music, and want to have a good time. Unfortunately, the rave scene is not seen this way by everyone.

It is only until recently that raves have started to become socially acceptable. This is due to acid – house becoming a popular genre of electronic dance music amongst today’s generation of youth. Raves signify a community of people, of all different ages and from different backgrounds. It is a community where having a good time is the only thing on people’s minds, and where you can get lost in the music all night long.