If you ask us, we’d say no, for we subscribe to the Whit Stillman view on such things. However, one cannot deny that we live in a time where simply throwing a dance party with music just no longer seems like enough. There’s the Cat Face Party, the Rebel Bingo party, the ’70s rollerskate party, to say nothing of flash mobs, pillow fights, and the dreaded cuddle party. But now, at long last, The Silent Party has come to Philadelphia:

At a Silent Event, rather than using a traditional speaker system, live music is broadcasted and picked up by specially designed wireless headphones worn by the audience. Those without the headphones hear no music, giving the effect of a room full of people dancing to silence. People watching is half the fun!

The effect, as you can see in the video at right, is one of mass tone-deaf headphone singalongs, which we must admit is more sweet and funny than it is soul-killing or dumb. The Silent Disco hits the Blockley tonight, and we also have to give that venue some credit, too: While the rest of us have been whining about how there’s no new kinds of fun out there (have we?), The Blockley has just been all like, “You want your roller-rave crazy-shouty-bingo-on-headphones fix? We have you covered!”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 at 10:08 am.