With lights flashing, music bumping and feet shuffling, crowds gathered in front of the Memorial Union North Stage at ASU’s Tempe campus for a Friday night of raucous dancing – all without making a sound.
Since its inception in 2007, Headphone Disco, a travelling collective of DJs who throw silent dance parties, has been making waves in the festival circuit.
The concept is simple – Headphone Disco provides hundreds of wireless headphones, each with two FM channels to choose from. Check out a pair, put them on and absorb yourself in the mobs of partiers as music transmits to those with headphones on and nobody else.
ASU’s Programming and Activities Board teamed with MU After Dark to help fund the surreal event in which dozens of baffled spectators watched seemingly crazed college students dance to the tune of silence.
Brady Madden, the executive director of MU After Dark, primarily targets international students and freshmen with these events, although he hoped Headphone Disco would draw out a diverse crowd of over 500 people.
“Since this is the first Headphone Disco on campus, I hope people just come out to this event and enjoy it for what it is,” Madden said. “We’re just hoping people come jam out, enjoy their Friday night and have a good start to their weekend.”
The bass-heavy electronic music drew crowds and even lured a few “gloving” enthusiasts into the mix.
Gloving was once a niche facet of rave culture, but with the advent of EDM, people wearing LED lighted gloves and performing intricate hand motions called “light shows” is becoming common place.
Sean Byrnes, a junior physics and chemistry major, came to the Headphone Disco with hopes of alleviating some of the poor stigmas surrounding gloving.
“Gloving kind of has a negative connotation to it because of its connection to the rave scene and drug use,” Byrnes said. “We’re just out here to prove that it is a form of artistic expression and it deserves recognition.”
Throughout the night, multiple curious attendees approached Byrnes and his fellow “glovers” for a taste of what they could do.
Watching Byrnes perform to bystanders with headphones on made for a bizarre experience, especially because only he and his audience could hear the music accompanying the light show.
Kady Riggan, an intern with the PAB, co-hosted the event with Madden and helped with passing out headphones to those wishing to partake.
Riggan said hiring an outside vendor like Headphone Disco is out of character for the PAB and MU After Dark because of the high cost attached with doing so.
Usually the two event coordinator organizations stick to lower budget themes, however, a few times a year, the PAB can splurge. Bringing in higher profile acts like the Headphone Disco is considered a mid-range outing for the PAB, Riggan said.
The fully catered Headphone Disco ran from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. Friday night and attracted sizable crowds.
The PAB’s next event is “Thursday Night Live” and is being held April 2nd at 6 p.m. on the Palo Verde Beach. MU After Dark holds events weekly.
Reach the reporter at nlatona@asu.edu or follow @Bigtonemeaty on Twitter.
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