​Legendary acid house clubs immortalised with yellow plaques in London

Former London venues home to legendary acid house raves through the ‘80s and ‘90s have been immortalised with yellow plaques.

George Georgiou, the artist behind the iconic acid house smiley face which appeared on countless flyers and memorabilia, has installed plaques outside a handful of now-shuttered venues.

Venues and club nights commemorated with yellow plaques include Special Branch, which was first launched in 1984 by Nicky Holloway, Pete Tong, and Gilles Peterson.

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Other venues include The Milk Bar, Sin, Velvet Underground, and Shoom, where Georgiou first emblazoned a flyer with his iconic yellow smiley in 1988 which would become synonymous with acid house raves thereafter.

The yellow plaques were installed ahead of the launch of George Georgiou Gallery, a “digital open-world experience” showcasing flyers from ‘80s and ‘90s raves.

The gallery also features an interactive map of former acid house sites commemorated with yellow plaques, allowing fans to visit each venue.

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“By bringing my flyer designs to the metaverse I want to show younger generations how much history there is in this music, and hopefully give them something inspiring on their own turf,” says George Georgiou.

“The gallery space features all my best work, previously only in physical form, and I’m so excited to see it come to life digitally, in such a spectacular way.”

Speaking to The Guardian during a tour of the shuttered London venues, Danny Rampling said: “London always has something exciting going on, but it was a pivotal time in youth culture. Before things got commercialised it was all very DIY and organic. A real feeling of unity, hope, love and optimism.”

Check out some photos below.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter