Music is played through individual headphones at a silent disco.
Photo courtesy of Bob Doran (Flickr)
You’ve heard all the buzz. You’ve seen the crazy videos on Snapchat and Instagram. In them people are singing loudly like no one’s around and dancing along. Except you can’t hear any music. They can, but it’s called a Silent Disco, or Headphone Party, and last week Montclair State University had its very own.
Over 200 students simultaneously sang and danced to an array of music in different genres. Some could be heard singing along to Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA.” Others could be heard belting out the lyrics to Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance.”
“We had a company come in and they provide headphones,” said Casey Coleman, Coordinator of Student Activities for the Center for Student Involvement (CSI). “There’s different stations that people can listen to, so everyone is dancing in different patterns. You can switch back and forth so sometimes people would all be screaming the lyrics to one song and then it would switch.”
The equipment was rented from Headphone Disco, a company that specializes in headphone parties all around the area. Headphone parties became popular about two years ago and took the country by storm. Silent parties are held at all kinds of events, including music festivals like Coachella and Governor’s Ball.
“I had a great time at the Silent Disco,” said Rachel Mindas, a junior at Montclair State. “I went with my roommates and it was a nice way to shake off any awkwardness between us and just have a great time. I had actually been meaning to go to one of these for a while, so I’m really glad there was one right on campus.”
The event was one of the school’s Fall Frenzy activities that are scattered throughout the first month of school.
“Fall Frenzy is an initiative between the CSI, Residence Life and Campus Recreation. We primarily focus on new students to get acclimated, make new friends and have fun, but the events are open to everyone because we want everyone to have fun,” added Coleman.
With the event open to everyone, many different students came to experience their very first Silent Disco.
“It was so much fun,” said Zabdi Medel, a senior at Montclair State. “I didn’t know what to expect at first but then everyone was singing along and dancing. It was pretty cool. At one point we were listening to Miley Cyrus and then we’d be rapping along to Fetty Wap. I’d definitely do something like this again.”
