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A Long, Strange Trip Back to the Acid House Raves of 1991

A Long, Strange Trip Back to the Acid House Raves of 1991

After Kanye dropped out of Coachella’s long-awaited return later this month, he was replaced by Swedish House Mafia. The massively popular EDM trio became the face of the dance music boom in the 2010s, and while many fans may be disappointed in the lineup swap, it goes to show just how far house music has progressed.

House Music, like many incredible things, has roots in Chicago. Innovators like DJ Pierre and Sleezy D birthed a whole new subgenre of dance music that changed party culture forever. But Acid House, as it came to be known, really took hold when it traveled across the pond to the UK in the mid-1980s. The loud, thumping bass lines shook warehouses and clubs all over Great Britain and eventually overtook mainstream British pop culture before making its way back to the States in a major way.

Artists like Frankie Knuckles, Paul Oakenfold, Danny Howells, Nightwriters, Soul II Soul, Stakker, Fast Eddie, Armando, Tyree, and so many more soundtracked the Acid House phase, a moment in time that could never be repeated. Pulsing beats, psychedelic drugs, and top-secret warehouse locations made for some of the most iconic parties in history. And because they all happened pre-cell phone era and not everyone had cameras on them, most of them live on solely in the memories of attendees, blurry as they may be.

Thankfully, one of the best parts of Acid House rave culture lives on forever: the design. The flyers, the lighting, the sheer chaos of it all. The invites for these mysterious gatherings were vague on purpose but you knew where to find them if you were savvy or had a friend who had been before. If you think streetwear is full of smiley faces now, you should have seen the Acid House era, where warped smileys were basically a universal sign for “hey, you, there’s a party in here and it slaps.”

The flyers all looked like acid blotter pages, with pop culture logo flips and witty calls-to-action. The art featured lots of little cartoon characters and objects all over the place, making one larger collage of imagery as you zoomed out and took it all in. A “vibe” as it would be called today.

When The Hundreds and legendary graffiti artist and graphic designer Mike Giant decided to follow up the Artist Series Bandana project with a full collaborative collection, Mike Giant immediately shifted the focus to a place we weren’t expecting: Acid House raves. He wanted to recreate the iconic flyer art of those warehouse parties and embrace the absolutely insane style of partygoers who frequented them.

Huge, loud graphics made up of a bunch of smaller elements. Massive, billowing parachute pants that made it look like you were skydiving as you danced along to the music. Bright, neon colors that made you stand out in the dark, smokey warehouse raves. Mike wanted to take The Hundreds back to 1991 and we were ready for the long, strange trip.

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If you want to learn more about Mike Giant, here’s my interview with the Sharpie God from a year or so ago when we worked with him on the Artist Series Bandana.

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