FOMO Strikes Again: Guild Hall’s Silent Disco
By Linda Lee —
Here is what happens when you plan a dance party in an open space on Memorial Day Weekend: the weather. Chances of rain on Sunday, May 24: 100 pecent. So let us turn our attention to the next silent disco party, this one on June 5. First decide how many are going. Then pick a channel: Hip Hop, 80’s Pop, or Disco.
From 8 to 11 on Sunday night, June 5, there will be people bopping, doing the x-step shuffle slide groove and, probably somewhere in the corner, a lone guy will be doing the Hustle. All at the same time, with no music. Some people will be dancing together. Others will be soloing. There is laughter, joking, drinking. But again, no music. This is silent disco. Everyone is wearing headphones.
Guild Hall has been doing it for some time now: a fun night, in the center of East Hampton. People don’t know about it because, again, no loud music. Tickets are $25 a person in advance, with a limit of ten tickets per order. You get the idea: Bring your friends.
From the left, DJ Schvitz-a-Lot, DJ ZiggaSun, and DJ Mister Lama. (Photo credit: Jessica Dalene)
Most nights the folks choosing the tunes are DJ Schvitz-a-Lot (otherwise known as Amy Kirwin, Guild Hall’s chief public engagement officer) whose specialty is pop music, especially songs from the 80s: I am guessing things by Whitney Houston, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” lots of Michael Jackson – things like that.
Another channel comes from DJ Mister Lama (Carlos Lama, the husband of Guild Hall’s executive director, Andrea Grover, and an experienced musician and music producer. DJ Mister Lama’s bag is classic disco and funk. I’m thinking you can’t get any more classic than Donna Summers, or funkier than Parliament-Funkadelia under George Clinton. But DJ Mister Lama has a mind of his own from years of playing around with a cover band. He could be full of surprizes.
Theere was even a Halloween silent disco dance.
Then there is DJ ZiggaSun, who in the daytime goes by Almond Zigmund. She has a BFA from the Parsons School of Design and an MFA in art theory and criticism from UNLV. Her art installations, sometimes wall graphics of delicate mulberry paper, have been exhibited around the US, and in Berlin and Zurich. As a DJ, however, her tastes run to high-energy hip hop, rap, things with a heavy beat. I’m thinking Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Ye, Tyler, the Creator, definitely Bad Bunny. You will be able to tell who is listening to DJ ZiggaSun’s channel, because they will be nodding in time to the bests.
The proprietors of Louise and Howie’s Coffee Bar.
Refreshments, including alcohol, will be available at Louise and Howie’s Coffee Bar. Everything is local, including Sylvester & Co. Dreamy Coffee, Wölffer Estate Vineyards wines, Kidd Squid beer, and Talkhouse canned cocktails. Check the Guild Hall calendar for upcoming dances in the garden. At some future date, expect a DJ to spin Latin music. Then the party will really get started.
