Gone To A Rave: Phatmedia present UK Rave Flyers 1988/1989

Music

Before the algorithms, before the Instagram flyers, before every warehouse party had an insipid, dynamically priced ticketing platform and a PR team, there were photocopies.

Crude, urgent, immediate. Flyers thrust into sweaty palms outside record shops, stuffed into the pockets of the initiated, passed hand-to-hand like contraband.

They were the nervous system of a movement that exploded across Britain between 1988 and 1989, when acid house went from underground obsession to national moral panic.

UK Rave Flyers 1988-1989, published by Velocity Press, is a 302-page monument to that moment. Sourced from the phatmedia archive – one of the old World Wide Web’s most comprehensive collections of old skool rave ephemera – it captures the raw visual language of a culture with no rulebook. Shoom, Spectrum, Sunrise, Genesis, the Haçienda, RIP, Land of Oz: over 800 flyers from the parties that birthed British club culture as we know it, reproduced in full colour with commentary from the people who were there.

For this feature, Phatmedia founder Dave Nicholson has opened his vault to showcase ten of the most coveted flyers from the era – artefacts that now regularly change hands for three and four-figure sums. Among them: the first Shoom flyer featuring George Georgiou’s cascading smiley discs, misread by many as pills and destined to become the tabloid symbol of acid house; the Hedonism fold-out design inspired by Roxy Music that stands up like a pop-up book; Eddie Richards and Geraldine Sedgwick-Coward’s fantasy-art Sunrise Mystery Trip flyer, showing a dewy-eyed sun sipping from rippling water; and Dave Little’s psychedelic Spectrum eye – now held permanently at the V&A – partly inspired by Rick Griffin’s work for the Grateful Dead.

These weren’t just event promotions. They were coded invitations to illegal gatherings, designed with whatever resources were at hand: photocopiers, screen prints, borrowed imagery, and sheer creative necessity. The early Genesis flyers were modest A6 cards printed in black ink with a simple logo and a map on the reverse. No extravagance, no false promises—just the essential details. That simplicity is precisely why they now hold such an important place in history.

Billy Daniel Bunter calls Nicholson’s documentation “an asset to the entire rave scene and history.” DJ Phantasy goes further: “Every flyer, every illegal rave, every risk we took – it created a movement that would become a multi-million-pound industry.”

This isn’t nostalgia. It’s evidence. Proof that something happened, something that mattered, something that can never be sanitised or repackaged, no matter how hard the industry tries.

HEDONISM 26th March 1988

Alperton Lane, Wembley

Promoters Alun & Simon Gordon

Design: Alun Gordon, Simon Gordon, Josh Wilkins

Inspired by my research and project, promoters Simon and Alun Gordon of Hedonism kindly donated a complete set of original Hedonism flyers. I was absolutely thrilled to receive them, owning a full set is a rare privilege, as it’s unlikely I could ever have tracked them all down, let alone justified the cost to my wife. These flyers promoted the legendary warehouse parties held on Alperton Lane.

This particular design, by Josh Wilkins, is a rare gem. Drawing partial inspiration from the cover of Roxy Music’s The Atlantic Years album and an image featured in The Face magazine, the flyer’s fold-out, stand-up construction made it strikingly inventive, well ahead of its time for that early era.

SIMON GORDON ‘In 88 I was wanting to do a flyer as a 7” single and contacted Simon Harris to see if he’d allow me to use his Bass How Low Can You Go as a flyer, but he wasn’t up for it. That would have been a fuck out flyer. The Hedo1 flyer was a beauty. Josh did the front, Alun did the brain and I did the rest. It was a Brainticket! The printers even got involved and came up with the idea of the fold so it could stand up.’

Great selection of images here

SPECTRUM 11th April 1988

Heaven Nightclub, London

Promoter Ian St Paul

Design by Dave Little

Another West End venture by Ian St Paul, Spectrum opened on 11th April 1988 and was held at Heaven nightclub in London. Despite a slow start and the fact that it was held on a Monday it became hugely popular.

Early stories from regulars claim that little more than a hundred people turned up on the opening night, and that they were offered ecstasy as they went in to help lift the atmosphere in the 2,500-capacity venue.

This Dave Little design is one of the most well-known rave flyers of all time and was featured at the V&A in London, where it is now held permanently. This psychedelic showpiece was partly inspired by Rick Griffin’s work for the Grateful Dead. The rest comes from the genius of Dave’s artistic skills, which produced so much of the classic acid house artwork. It continued to be used for a further 5 years promoting the Spectrum brand under various guises.

DAVE LITTLE ‘I met up with Paul Oakenfold, Ian St Paul and Gary Haisman. Gary gave me the brief. He said, ‘Dave, I want a fuckin’ great big trippy eye in the middle with the word Spectrum above it and below Heaven on Earth.’ Literally, that’s all he said.’

Sunrise Mystery Trip

22nd October 1988

Sarrat Equestrian Centre, Buckinghamshire

Promoter: Tony Colston-Hayter Design: Eddie Richards,

Geraldine Sedgwick-Coward, Patrick Woodroffe

The main image, adapted from the work of fantasy artist Patrick Woodroffe, shows a dewy-eyed sun with a straw in its mouth, calmly sipping from the rippling water below. It’s a playful image that perfectly reflects the carefree mood of the early scene. Both the event and this flyer have become woven into rave folklore, and it remains one of the most coveted and iconic flyers among collectors today.

This flyer, like so many others for Sunrise, was created by Eddie Richards and Geraldine Sedgwick-Coward, with some initial input from Tony Colston-Hayter. It’s another I don’t yet have in my collection, but never say never; it’s definitely in my top three most wanted flyers.

TREVOR FUNG ‘I came on about six in the morning, after playing two other gigs. As soon as I dropped Kariya, a wave of people went up cheering — like a Mexican wave through the crowd. Thousands of people in a field, going mad for the music. Unforgettable.’

Genesis Chapter 1

10th December 1988

Aldgate, London

Promoters Andrew Pritchard, Wayne Anthony, Keith Brooks

Wayne Anthony, Andrew Pritchard, and Keith Brooks launched Genesis in late 1988, beginning with Chapter 1 in a crashed warehouse in Aldgate East. They went on to run a string of memorable parties through 1989, alongside names like Sunrise, Biology and Pasha, the chaos and close calls were captured in Wayne Anthony’s Class of 88 book.

Their early flyers reflected the era: small A6 cards printed in black ink on coloured stock, cut-and-paste designs with a simple logo, text, and a map on the back. No hype or promises, just the information needed to find the party, a simplicity that now gives them their place in rave history.

I don’t yet own this particular flyer, though I do have a small Genesis collection from 1989. Maybe one day I’ll get lucky, though knowing the collecting community, I doubt anyone would part with a complete set of those first four flyers.

ANDREW PRITCHARD ‘By midnight, the venue was alive. Two hundred people crammed into the old warehouse, the music pulsing so hard it felt like the walls were breathing. Over the next few hours, they kept coming, a steady stream of hardcore ravers spilling in from the West End clubs. By 3 a.m. the place was packed, a swirling, euphoric mass of bodies and basslines.’

Sunrise – A Midsummer Nights Dream

24th June 1989 – White Waltham Airfield – Maidenhead

Promoter Tony Coulston-Hayter

Another from Sunrise but how could we not mention ‘Spaced Out’ and ‘Ecstasy Airport’. Or so a certain tabloid newspaper sensationalised this hangar rave on their front page the following Monday with thousands of attendees hoping their parents did not recognise them from the photo’s printed! The event finally got going in the early hours as they settled on White Waltham airfield. The hangar doors were opened at around 5am on safety grounds to let the masses that attended flow outside. As always with Sunrise the night was captured on camera by team to be released commercially and is a must watch.

This flyer was Sunrise’s first full colour glossy print and boasted the most spectacular Sunrise ever which if you watch the footage it can be believed. The main picture borrows from fantasy artist Patrick Woodroffe with the sun overlooking a hill of little faces. This has become etched into rave iconography and is one the most sought-after flyers of all time regularly exchanging hands for £2-300.

CHARLIE FITZFGERALD ‘The parties grew bigger and bigger, outgrowing the warehouses, equestrian centres, and wheat silos. Tony brought in new methods to get the locations out to the growing number of ravers. Each party was unique, with its own set of problems to overcome, but we saw them as challenges, not obstacles. We had the best lasers, sound systems, and even U2’s stage lights, not that they ever knew! I sometimes forget how young we all were when we started Sunrise: Tony was 22, and I was 19.’

Biology Panorama

10th June 1989

Elstree, Hertfordshire

Promoters Jarvis Sandy, Tarquin de Meza

As the pirate radio ad said, bring a road atlas. Something long gone with today’s smart phones and satnav but back then it was an essential tool to find the fields and warehouses around the M25. As with most Biology events they boasted a star-studded line up even before the superstar DJs of the mid 90s these were household names.

The flyer is a simple A6 sized 2 coloured affair that once again featured Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man drawing enclosed in an ornate frame design. A massive open-air event with a huge stage structure and light show made what looked like a memorable party captured on film by Popz. The party continued later that day on Clapham Common with locals watching on with bemusement.

NICK SOUTHWOOD – BOREHAMWOOD It was so big with a festival-like stage and dancers on walkways, they couldn’t stop it, went on till around 6–7 in the morning. First time we all heard French Kiss. It was a coming of age night for me and my friends. We were 16–17. That night kept the whole of the surrounding towns awake, they didn’t know what had hit them. Amazing time.’

Energy The Summer Festival

26th August 1989

Effingham, Surrey

Promoters Tintin Chambers, Jeremy Taylor

An early computer generated design this flyer by Karma Productions is A5 in size and well printed on a high grade of paper stock with a glossy finish. It’s not the most sought after of the early Energy flyers, that is of course Energy but that wasn’t captured on film like this was or dissected in a US documentary film about ecstasy.

“It was a sea of people, on ecstasy,” Peter Jennings solemnly declared on ABC as he interviewed DJ Frankie Bones on his recollection of flying in from the US to play at this legendary illegal all-nighter in front of 15000 people. Frankie later explained how he brought the UK culture back to the United States, the creators of house music.

TERRY CORNELL ‘I remember the mass queues trying to get in the hangar. Then a guy shouted out, “Fuck it, let’s have it out here as well!” With that, a guy pulled back a cover on the back of a lorry. The fucking amount of speakers, the ground rumbled, everyone went crazy. I’ll never forget this time. As the night went on, I got in my car, completely off my face, and started doing donuts in a field, pulling my handbrake up and spinning.’

TINTIN CHAMBERS ‘We released the address on the phone lines and put the word out that the first 5,000 people to get there would come free. 25,000 adventured in convoys, tailing back down the country roads for miles and onto the M25. Everyone then parking up where they could and marching peacefully through the police roadblocks into a field in Effingham, Surrey… to dance.’

Blastoff – Into Orbit

2nd September 1989

Stockers Farm, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire

Promoters Stuart Balmer, Eccles Jerome, Valerie Davie

The second party put on by Blastoff and this time captured on film. Striking bold imagery again in this flyer design with the use of yellow and black and the little head of Titin placed inside a spaceship ready to blast off into orbit. The designer created both flyers to complement each other perfectly. A great pair of acid house ephemera for collectors.

The original venue was to be held in a disused psychiatric hospital. After the police got wind of this, the promoters had to change their plans and successfully negotiated with a local farmer to hold the event on his land in Hertfordshire. This did not dampen things, and the trucks and sound systems were carefully driven down the country lanes and the party was a great success.

STUART BALMER ‘We had just two days to find an alternative venue. I drove to Stockers Farm the day before and did a deal with the farmer for the event to take place the following day. Logistically, it was difficult. We had massive trucks with the sound system trying to get down tiny country lanes. It was a beautiful location and the party was a great success. My only regret was that we had a team of people booked to clean up the following day, but the police wouldn’t let anyone on the site in the morning, so it reflected badly on us.’

Archival help from Wigs, Weed, Ruma, Beach, Sam, Stare, Drew, Mr Rich & Pez ;)

Raindance

16th September 1989

Jenkins Lane, Barking, London

Promoters Paul Nelson, Ray Spence, Lou Lewis

Raindance started life with a big top in a field in Jenkins Lane. Paul Nelson, Lou Lewis and Ray Spence were the three who had the idea to put on this rave. Raindance went on to hold large-scale events across England and even ventured to Spain and soon became one of the best-known names of the 90s rave scene.

During 1990 when London’s nightlife was mostly restricted to 3am licences, Raindance took advantage by shipping clubbers from the West End to the East to carry on raving until sun rise all aboard on the Raindance double decker.

An understated flyer – nicely laid out and printed onto thin yellow paper, it does the job intended. The early logos for Ism Prism & Raindance, date, description, DJ line up and ticket and location info. There is a second alt version of this without the Dave Morales black text box along with a B&W pre flyer, these 3 combine to make a valuable collectors triple.

RICHARD RAINDANCE ‘The police showed up around two or three in the morning with big wagons, shields, helmets, the lot. We expected to get arrested as usual, but after a while they just up sticked and left. There was another party somewhere else apparently. A few hours later, we turned everything back on and got the word out on the pirates. Some people came back, others just stayed, and we carried on till morning.’

Helter Skelter

30th September 1989

St Mary’s Farm, Adderbury, Oxfordshire

Promoter Outer Limits / Pumphouse Productions

Design Eddie Richards

What a line-up this one had and they all turned up. A rare, vivid account of the night survives in a review by Jack Barron, printed inside a 1991 Outer Limits flyer, where he describes the scale of the night perfectly. Around four to five thousand were expected, but with Phantasy being closed off, rogue ticket sellers, and a fair bit of fence-jumping, the crowd rose to roughly seven thousand.

A well-produced flyer, this was A6 in size and printed onto thick glossy card stock. The design is minimal but eye catching with a jet black background and the Helter Skelter typeface acting as a window from a plane onto the landscape below. A similar design would later be used for a Helter Skelter event at the Eclipse in Coventry in 1991.

EDDIE RICHARDS ‘The KLF famously requested their fee be paid entirely in Scottish pound notes. During their performance atop the event’s namesake Helter Skelter structure, they threw the notes into the crowd, each one inscribed with the message “Children, we love you,” creating an unforgettable publicity stunt.’

These excerpts — and hundreds more — can be found in the book.