Silent Disco on Ocean Beach

Lots of people wandered by the stretch of Ocean Beach known as Kelly's Cove today wondering what was going on. There were people dancing everywhere. But no music playing. Just the sound of the waves hitting the beach.

But then, what was that big truck with the words "Janky Barge" printed on it? And were all of those people really listening to wireless headsets and dancing away their Sunday at some kind of silent disco party? The next question was inevitable: where can I get tickets to this?  Today they were out of luck because the show was sold out. 400 headsets. That was it.

My friend Rob Kowal, a.k.a. DJ Motion Potion, brought Silent Sunset to San Francisco as an experiment in finding a way to have people enjoy music outdoors in SF.

Rob has been a staunch proponent (as well as director) of outdoor music festivals in SF, including the North Beach Jazz Fest. He's seen them shut down due to increasingly difficult and painful permitting processes, to the point that it sometimes seems impossible to organize outdoor music festivals these days. But he's not giving up. Having been part of the Silent Disco party at Bonnaroo, he thought why not bring the technology out West?

He sees this as a point of civil rights. We have the right to enjoy music in groups outdoors. And today, people were definitely standing up and dancing for their rights.

There was something surreal about the dance party on the beach, especially when I took off the headset and just watched everyone.

It was gorgeous. It was quiet. It was ridiculously fun. You can be sure that there will be more of these events, probably this summer, so get on Sunset Promotions email list.  Then you can be the one listening to the music and explaining to passersby what is going on.