LarkFEST 2010 hosts Albany's first Silent Disco party

Like something out of the Twilight Zone, hundreds of happy people danced in the street as unexpecting passers-by looked on in astonishment. Silence is all that could be heard, yet the mob of people partying on the other side of the orange mesh fencing might as well have been at the most popular club in L.A. or New York. There was a lot of hooting and hollering, a fog machine, and there were even a few dancefloor battles. This was the scene at Albany's first Silent Disco party, which was sponsored by Bombers Burrito Bar and the Lark Street BID, thrown on Hudson Avenue by Gravity Entertainment, Dreamy Productions and SinSation Sound during Albany's 29th annual LarkFEST street celebration.

Before the party started, a half-block section of the street was fenced off and a portable stage was set up for the DJs. The first part-goers were let in at noon with a $5 admission which included an armband and one of 500 sets of identical wireless headphones, which were necessary because there were no speakers in use at all. There were two channels to choose from, each tuned to one of two DJs spinning concurrently on the stage. The DJs playing throughout the afternoon were: The Dark Flow, Eric Stewart, Jay Balance, Lazer & Blazer, RekOne, DJ Scooter, Milkdud, Scott Siz, Robin Moreau, and Envy & Ballistic. This large number of DJs covered styles from drum-and-bass to house and dubstep. People who left the fenced in area turned their headphones in at the gate. Upon returning they showed their armbands and got their headphones back.

It didn't take long for the dancing people to forget that they were the only ones who could hear the music they were partying to, creating quite a spectacle for the people passing to and from the festivities on Lark Street. At the height of the party, which lasted until 5:00pm, all 500 sets of headphones were in use with people lining up at the gate for someone to leave so they could get their headphones and hear the music for themselves.

Therein lies the huge step forward that the Silent Disco was for the electronic music scene in the Albany area: this party jumped on the opportunity to instill curiosity toward electronic music to a potential new crowd 80,000 strong. It also gave the local 'techno' scene an obvious and unquestionable presence in the greater local music scene on par with the fine rock bands that have traditionally made LarkFEST such a huge success year after year.