Photographer Tony Davis’ adult life has been dedicated to chronicling culture surrounding Northern Soul all-nighters, football terraces, football casuals, free party collectives and acid house raves. He also recently released a fanzine, UK Rave 1991, which documents the ecstatic spirit of clubbing outside of the capital.
Here he talks us through some of his photos taken in 1991 as the music, fashion and culture surrounding acid house had flourished and permeated pretty much every town in England. He focused on the regional scenes — lost nights in small clubs in Nottingham and Coventry and forgotten mornings at service stations.
These micro-scenes operated within the wider youth culture movement. They might not be as well-publicised as the orbital raves, Shoom, Spectrum, or The Haçienda, but they encapsulated every bit of the irrepressible indulgence and unrestrained hedonism spawned by the birth of electronic music culture.
DJ Mag asked Davis to talk us through some of the pictures from UK Rave 1991.