This year’s Larkfest featured something Albany had never seen before. A Silent Disco. You may have heard of them from events like Camp Bisco or Bonaroo or Burning Man festivals, but to most people here in the Capital Region, this is a brand new thing. How did it work? People who entered the disco were given a pair of headsets that have built in channel and volume controls. A few hundred feet away, two DJ’s play music simultaneously on stage.  Listeners could switch between DJ’s by swapping channels on their headset. They could also determine how loud they wanted to hear the music.

Thousands of people stopped to watch people jamming out to music that no one else could hear. An interesting site to see? Yup.

So just what does a silent disco sound like? What does it look like? We grabbed a few minutes of clips and put them up on the Albany Alive YouTube account.

In the beginning people were cautious. They weren’t quite sure they wanted to be a part of what was going on. As the afternoon continued, the crowd warmed up and people were jumping in without hesitation. Overall there was great feedback on the Silent Disco, so we should see the return of it next year and on a larger scale. This year’s event only featured 200 headsets, meaning only 200 people could be in the Disco at any given time. When and if it returns to Larkfest, we will defiantly see more headsets, meaning more people can be apart of the scene simultaneously.

Upset you missed the Silent Disco? Don’t worry. Word on the street is we will be seeing it in downtown Albany very soon. It looks like several of the downtown bars and clubs are planning to bring the Silent Disco in to give patrons a unique experience. So if you missed it and you want to try it, stay tuned and we will let you know when the next one comes around.

If you are interested in seeing more of Larkfest, be sure to check out the Larkfest 2010 Photos.

Be Sociable, Share!

•