Dance party craze presses ‘mute’ on speakers
By: Jennifer Nelson for msnbc.com
Published: Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Article excerpt:
To the spectator, it’s an odd sight. But this new dance party phenomenon, which started in Europe (of course), uses specially designed wireless headphones rather than a traditional speaker system to get music to the masses. This Silentpalooza is people-watching heaven. And it’s now taking America by storm.
“People would think its anti-social, but it ends up being the exact opposite,” says Ryan Dowd, owner of Silent Events, Inc., who caters Silent Disco events around the country. “If you meet someone or give them the eye on the dance floor, there’s no way to talk in a loud, crowded club without going outside, but this way you can literally take off the headphones in the center of the dance floor and talk in an inside voice steps from the DJ.”
Silent Events is one of the first American companies to bring Silent Disco to the U.S. You can now find college campuses hosting Silent Disco parties for their students as well as music festivals, fairs, weekly silent nights at your favorite club, rooftop parties – Jet Blue even held one at their airport terminal at JFK. (It gets interesting around the 1:50 mark.)
