Silent discos are drawing in crowds across Australia

Katherine Stanton has not missed a single silent disco since they arrived in Canberra two years ago.The 46-year-old has even travelled to other parts of the country just to take part in these events."We were super excited when it came to Canberra, my friend and I, because we'd done a silent disco walking tour through Sydney, so we had the bug for it," Ms Stanton said."I've gone to every single one in Canberra."I've travelled to Sydney for them. I've travelled to Brisbane for them. I love them. They're fantastic."At a silent disco, you might have your headphones tuned in to '80s music, but the person next to you could be listening to '90s classics or songs from the 2000s.By pressing a button at the side of your headphones, you can change the channel you're listening to, which is mixed by one of three DJs dedicated to making you dance.Each channel is colour-coded — blue for '80s, red for '90s and grreen for 2000s — so that you can tell at a glance what everybody else is listening to.From left to right: Katherine Stanton, Karen, Hannah, Fiona and Steph at a Halloween-themed silent disco. (Supplied: Katherine Stanton)"I'm definitely a '90s, noughties gal … I do like reliving my youth," Ms Stanton says."You can be with a group of friends on completely different vibes of music but still enjoying each other's company and dancing and having fun."Meeting other people who are on the same colour station, you just make eye contact with someone and know that they're on the green station with you and you just have a look of understanding and have a dance with them and then go back to your group of friends."Ms Stanton says the biggest roadblock for people she has tried to convince to join her is that they feel a little too self-conscious to get involved. But she's never felt that way."I have said to friends who've had that hesitation, there's something magical about when you put those headphones on, because they're sound-cancelling," Ms Stanton says."You feel like you're in this little safe cocoon because the music is so loud and surrounding in your ears. You don't even really realise how quiet it is until you do have to take it off to have a conversation or go to the bathroom or go to the bar. "You don't feel like you're out of place."Silent discos have been selling out throughout Australia. (Supplied: Joel Roosa)Ms Stanton has made new friends at the events, which usually run from 6:30pm—9:30pm and are designed for people who still want to be able to function the following day."I love that I can have fun, listen to some great music, enjoy the company of my friends, have a great time, and then be home, showered and in bed and still fresh on a weekend for the next day," Ms Stanton says.She also enjoys the health benefits."I'm definitely someone who has music as a bucket filler," Ms Stanton says."I love music. It makes me feel happy. And the workout is phenomenal."My heart rate — I know, because I've tracked it — is in a really great kind of cardio burning range, but you're not doing a hard workout at a gym or something like that."You're literally having fun with your friends, laughing and dancing."'Joy to the world'Tom Gay is the director of Amazing Silent Discos, which also holds events in the US and UK.Tom Gay has described the silent discos as a global phenomenon. (Supplied: Joel Roosa)He says Australia draws the largest crowds, with more than 1,000 people attending these events and more than 2,000 during Vivid Sydney this year."Amazing Silent Discos is a global phenomenon right now," Mr Gay says."Visually, it's beautiful, because you have a whole bunch of the disco lights going around."When you take off those headphones, all you hear is people either singing completely out of pitch, or in tune, and a lot of shoes squeaking on the ground."It's a very unique experience."I think it's pure chaos, but pure chaos in the most elegant way possible."The discos can take place in unusual locations such as the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney's CBD. (Supplied: Boaz)The events take place in museums, cathedrals, town halls and even underground stations and international passenger terminals."The whole idea of Amazing Silent Discos is to have it in an unconventional location that you don't think you would ever have a party," Mr Gay says."Prime example is a night at the museum, dancing under dinosaur bones, or amongst whale bones."And it's such a unique space because a lot of these people that come to these events, they've been to these museums before."They've been to these spaces, but however, [they are] coming back as an older demographic but also experiencing the museum in a new way."You get to experience the museum at night filled with lights and interactive DJs."Mr Gay wanted to create a space where people could just have some good, old-fashioned fun."We live in a negative world already, and I don't want to add more negativity to the world," he says."And I think the most I can do is change the moment of a thousand people all at once, even if it's a three-hour moment … I want to bring more joy to the world."There have been so many people who have come up to me and said 'Tom, I have never experienced so much joy in my life, just by dancing.'"Tom Gay says he just wants to bring more joy to the world. (Supplied: Boaz)Events are planned for Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Caloundra, Adelaide, Hobart, Ballarat and Canberra.There are plans to expand to the Northern Territory, northern Queensland and New Zealand.The next round of discos will include '70s disco classics.Mr Gay was inspired to start the company after seeing how it worked in the UK."Silent discos have been around since the early 2000s," he says."Silent discos is nothing truly new. However, it's the way you function the actual event itself."Mr Gay calls the experience "unified and yet individualised"."You don't need to speak the same language to know that you are having fun," he says.