Silent Noise: A headphone party in Goa

Night owls with itchy feet and a love for music and the outdoors traditionally head to Goa -- land of the raves -- but where, frustratingly, noise pollution laws require all open-air venues to shut down by 10pm.

My glimmer of hope arrived in the form of a flyer advertising "Silent Noise: India’s original headphone party, every Saturday at Neptune Point, Palolem, from 9pm-4am."

Come Saturday night, I crossed a precarious bamboo bridge, followed a rocky path along the dark shoreline to Neptune Point -- a short adventure on its own -- and emerged onto a surreal scene: an open, grassy patch, flanked by breaking waves and a nearly-full moon, contained a mass of people dancing, jumping and head-bobbing at different speeds as three DJs stood in an elevated console pumping their fists. Some folks milled around a two-storey open-air bar while others shadow-danced behind two large projection screens.

Besides murmured conversations and barely audible music coming from the bar, the entire place was virtually silent.

When we’re lined up, playing, there’s a bit of argy-bargy between the DJs to see whose music’s being listened to the most.

— Justin Mason

I wondered if I’d suddenly gone deaf, then broke out of my reverie and put on the wireless 3-channel over-ear headphones I’d been given at the entrance, included in the Rs 400 admission ticket. It was like going from a subdued dinner party to a raging nightclub in a flash: deep house music pounded stereophonically into my ears, and instantly I was part of the party. I danced my way into the crowd, noticing that fellow headphoners either had a blue, red or green light on their headphones.

Fiddling with the channel-changing button, I was further amazed to flip from the blue deep house channel to the red electrotech/breaks channel to my favourite, the groovy green old-school-funk channel. Friends could take off their headphones to slide into easy conversation at normal volume, and strangers could break the ice with each other by exchanging favourite-channel pleasantries and literally pushing each others’ buttons – and all the while, sleeping neighbours remained undisturbed. It was tons of fun, and when the party ended well past 4am, I was left with new friends and the urge to keep on dancing, wondering why we didn’t have more headphone parties, the most harmonious solution to nightlife and noise pollution I’d seen yet.

The headphone party (or "silent disco") concept is not a new one – big European festivals including Glastonbury have been having headphone parties for years. U.K. DJ, event organizer and A&R man Justin Mason came to India on a yearlong sabbatical, fell in love with Palolem and decided to do something about Goa’s diminishing nightlife scene using the headphone party concept. The weekly Silent Noise parties started in 2006 with custom-designed imported equipment. Designing the optimal headphone and integrating a three-channel setup took two years, but it was well worth it. The sound quality is superb, and the multiple channels allows people to interact with each other while promoting healthy competition between the DJs.

Two other lookalike headphone parties soon followed by other organizers on other days of the week, but the Silent Noise parties are the only ones that boast a three-DJ, three-channel music, lights and visual experience.

Will we see headphone parties outside of Palolem too?

The Silent Noise crew is already working on a monthly event at club Gaia in Pune, and hopes to be able to break into Mumbai and Bangalore in 2010.

"Choosing the right venue is key," says Justin. "I'm still seeking out perfect locations. I’ve got some in mind, but it’s got to be outdoors. Doing headphone parties indoors just doesn’t make sense."

Silent Noise headphone parties take place every Saturday at Neptune Point on Palolem Beach, South Goa. Admission is Rs 400, includes rental of wireless headphones and a third of the profits goes to the Animal Welfare Association of Goa. Call Justin Mason on +91 97309 35334 for more information, or visit www.silentnoise.in