More than 2,500 students attended Basshunter Silent Disco, USG says

Between 2,500 and 2,700 students attended the USG’s “Silent Disco” Dean’s Date celebration on Tuesday in Dillon Gymnasium, according to USG social chair Benedict Wagstaff ’14.

The event featured performances by DJ duo The Jane Doze and Swedish DJ Basshunter. While some students complained about the quality of the headphones and the line to return them at the end of the night, many students said they enjoyed the unique ambience of the event.

Wagstaff said the influx of large groups of people at times and smaller groups of people at other times made accommodating everyone as quickly as possible difficult.

“We tried to come up with a system to ensure that we didn’t lose too many headphones and also was effective in getting their identification,” Wagstaff said.

Julia Langer ’16 said she wasn’t expecting the collection of her University ID card in exchange for a pair of headphones, but she said she thought it was a “good security measure.” Nevertheless, she said she was frustrated by how long she had to wait to return the headphones.

Wagstaff acknowledged that there were issues in both picking up and dropping off headphones but noted that this was the first time the USG held an event of this type. He explained that a two-line system — one for returns and one for pickups — would be the best way to accommodate such events in the future.

Many students said they enjoyed the form of the concert, explaining that it was new and refreshing.

“It was nice being able to take off the headphones and talk with your friends and then get right back into it,” Sam Dercon ’16 said.

Brian Sheng ’16 said he likes Basshunter but would have preferred to hear him perform in a normal concert format.

“I thought the idea was cool at first but when you got there, the headphones just weren't loud enough with a lot of people talking at the same time,” he said.

Wagstaff explained that the headphones were provided by SilentArena, the organization the USG had booked to put on the concert. He added that issues in sound quality were the result of static, which came from connecting many pieces together in the same system. He said with more experience and more time, the quality of sound could be improved for future events.

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“I’m just glad that we managed to get the event to work smoothly,” Wagstaff said. “The fact that it even worked at all was quite good.”

In addition, Wagstaff noted if the weather conditions had been better on Dean’s Date, the event could have been held outside. In that environment, he said the event would have been “far more impressive."

“We definitely were strongly looking into heating areas outside,” Wagstaff said. “We really just wanted a beautiful space with beautiful music and beautiful people.”

USG president Bruce Easop ’13 commended the USG Social Committee for bringing a whole new concert form to campus, adding that the event brought a lot of energy to campus as something new and creative. Easop explained that the USG plans to survey the student body to see whether the “silent disco” form is something that students would like to see again.

The cost of the “Silent Disco” was about half the amount spent on Lawnparties or the Orange and Black Ball, according to Wagstaff. Easop declined to release the specific costs, citing a clause in the contracts signed with the musical acts.

Correction: Due to a reporting error, an earlier version of this article misstated the relative cost of the silent disco. The event cost the USG about half as much as Lawnparties or the Orange and Black Ball. the 'Prince' regrets the error.