silent disco

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A Silent Disco Wedding Celebration in Palm Springs - Casa Cody Wedding

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Fabian and Mickela pose after their wedding ceremony at Casa Cody in Palm Springs.

Fabian and Mickela pose after their wedding ceremony at Casa Cody in Palm Springs.

The first dance at Fabian and Mickela’s weddings at Casa Cody in Palm Springs.

The first dance at Fabian and Mickela’s weddings at Casa Cody in Palm Springs.

Fabian and Mickela’s wedding included a host of “firsts” for me:

  • First time to DJ a wedding in Palm Springs

  • First time renting a cargo van to haul equipment

  • First time to include a silent disco element at a wedding

  • First time to have a post wedding meal inside a casino (The casino was the best option at 1 a.m. in Palm Springs.)

But more on this wedding. It took place at Casa Cody, a funky inn in Palm Springs (which is probably how all inns are described in Palm Springs) on September 16, 2017. They essentially took over the entire complex, as their ceremony, cocktail hour and reception were held in various places within the venue. The whole event had a cool vibe, with Miho catering, a pour over coffee bar and even a group sing along.

Oh yeah, the silent disco too. Because of strict noise ordinances in Palm Springs, amplified music is not allowed after 10 p.m. But when we broadcast music to personal headphones to all the attendees, that is no longer an issue … and the party continues till Midnight.

Here’s a look at the setlist, including the silent disco -- which of naturally has many sing along songs!

Dinner

  • Halsey - Colors (Blonde Remix Radio Edit)

  • Sia f./Sean Paul - Cheap Thrills (Le Youth Remix)

  • Michael Jackson - Don't Stop Till Get You Get Enough (Hot Classics Remix)

  • Daryl Hall & John Oates - You Make My Dreams

  • Leon Bridges - Coming Home

  • Mindi Abair - The Joint

  • Solange - Cranes In The Sky

  • LP - Lost On You

  • Julia Michaels - Issues

  • HAIM - Want You Back

  • Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody

  • Gavin DeGraw - Chariot

  • Bay Ledges - Safe

  • Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color

  • The Avett Brothers - Ain't No Man

  • Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon

  • Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home

  • Carl Carlton - She's A Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)

  • Mariah Carey - Emotions (Select Mix Remix)

  • Imagine Dragons - Believer

  • Andy Grammer - Fresh Eyes

  • Childish Gambino - Redbone

  • Kygo ft Maty Noyes - Stay

  • Santana - Oye Como Va

  • Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You

  • Sia ft Sean Paul - Cheap Thrills (Mr. Collipark Remix)

  • Coldplay - A Sky Full Of Stars

Father/Daughter Dance
Paul Simon - Father and Daughter

Mother/Son Dance
John Lennon - Beautiful Boy

Open Dancing

  • Frank Sinatra - The Way You Look Tonight

  • Al Green - Let's Stay Together

  • Jackson 5 - I Want You Back

  • Bruno Mars - 24K Magic

  • Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It

  • Usher - Yeah (Wedding Crasherz Break)

  • House of Pain - Old School Jump Off

  • Nicki Minaj ft Drake - Truffle Butter (Jester Remix)

  • K.C. & the Sunshine Band - Get Down Tonight

  • Boyz II Men - Motownphilly

  • DNCE - Cake By The Ocean

  • Katy Perry - California Gurls Party Break

  • Flo Rida - Low

  • Salt N Pepa - Push It (Mayeda Remix)

  • Kesha - Die Young (PeteDown Acapella Out)

  • Fergie - Fergalicious

  • Imagine Dragons - I Bet My Life

  • Michael Jackson & Justin Timberlake - Love Never Felt So Good

  • Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee f./Justin Bieber - Despacito (Remix)

  • DJ Khaled f./Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance The Rapper & Lil Wayne - I'm The One

  • The Chainsmokers & Coldplay - Something Just Like This

Silent Disco

  • Beyonce - Single Ladies

  • Blackstreet - No Diggity (Mayeda Twerk Remix)

  • DJ Snake, Lil Jon - Turn Down For What (Select Mix Remix)

  • Men Without Hats - Safety Dance

  • Celia Cruz - La Vida Es Un Carnaval

  • Journey - Don't Stop Believin' (Live)

  • Justin Timberlake - Can't Stop The Feeling!

  • Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk (Select Mix Remix)

  • Daft Punk - Get Lucky (Select Mix)

  • David Bowie - Let's Dance

  • Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

  • Elvis Crespo - Suavemente

  • J Balvin & Willy William - Mi Gente

  • The Weeknd ft Daft Punk - I Feel It Coming (Mr. Collipark Remix)

  • Backstreet Boys - I Want it That Way

  • Max A Million - Sexual Healing

  • Dr. Dre - Next Episode

  • Iggy Azalea - Fancy (Seize Where The Ladies At Edit)

  • Chaka Demus & Pliers - Murder She Wrote

  • Destiny's Child - Jumpin' Jumpin' (Jean Tonique Remix)

  • LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem

  • Icona Pop f./Charli XCX - I Love It

  • Sage The Gemini - Now & Later (Merk & Kremont Remix)

  • Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Ummet Ozcan Remix)

  • Pitbull f. Kesha - Timber (Promo Only Quick Edit)

  • Calvin Harris - Feel So Close

  • Maroon 5 - Moves Like Jagger

  • Calvin Harris f./Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry & Big Sean - Feels

  • Oscar DeLeon - Lloraras

  • Tito Nieves - La Salsa Vive

  • Pitbull f./Osmani Garcia & Lil Jon - Taxi

  • Prince - Raspberry Beret

  • Drake - Hotline Bling

  • Jay Z ft. Kanye West - N***** In Paris

  • Flo Rida, Sage The Gemini, Lookas - GDFR (Select Mix Remix)

  • Fetty Wap - Trap Queen

  • Ginuwine - Pony

  • Robin Thicke f./Pharrell & T.I. - Blurred Lines

  • Lady GaGa - Just Dance

  • OMI - Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Radio Edit)

Vendor Team
DJ/Master of Ceremonies/Uplighting: Justin Kanoya, DJ Kanoya Productions
Venue: Casa Cody
Event Coordinator: After The Engagement
Videography: Carry On Studios
Photographer: Andy King Photography (all photos in this blog, courtesy of Andy King Photography)
Catering: Miho

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Silent Disco Party Caps off Nestle Water Conference at the Hotel Del Coronado

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Nestle Water recently held a conference at the Hotel Del Coronado. On the closing night, July 26, 2017, the company organized a party on venue’s Windsor Lawn. The night started out with house beats from DJ David Cutler and the final two hours I joined him along with DJ Sweeshe for a silent disco.

With three DJs, the guests had three different genres of music to choose from. David continued with house music, Sweeshe played current R&B and Hip-Hop and I spun all 90s

Take a look at my setlist, which included a host of singalongs -- something that always sounds interesting when everyone is wearing headphones.

  • Simple Minds - Don't You Forget About Me
  • Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy (Select Mix Remix)
  • Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Edge Remix)
  • Bell Biv Devoe - Poison
  • Mariah Carey - Emotions (Select Mix Remix)
  • Emotions - Best Of My Love
  • Paula Abdul - Forever Your Girl
  • Paula Abdul - Opposites Attract
  • Whitney Houston - How Will I Know (Select Mix Remix)
  • New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
  • Madonna - Holiday
  • Prince - Raspberry Beret
  • Hall & Oates - Private Eyes (Select Mix Remix)
  • New Kids On The Block - The Right Stuff
  • C&C Music Factory - Things That Make You Go Hmmmm (Select Mix Remix)
  • Boyz II Men - Motownphilly
  • Katy Perry - Firework
  • Ray Charles - America the Beautiful
  • Marky Mark - Good Vibrations
  • Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart (Select Mix Remix)
  • Chaka Khan - I Feel For You (Hot Classics Remix
  • Michael Jackson - P.Y.T (remix)
  • Earth, Wind & Fire - Sing A Song (Hot Classics Remix
  • Phil Collins - Sussudio (Select Mix Remix)
  • Scandal - The Warrior (Select Mix Remix)
  • Journey - Don't Stop Believin
  • Bon Jovi - Livin On A Prayer
  • The Clash - Train In Vain (Edge Remix)
  • Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline
  • Garth Brooks - Friends in Low Places
  • Tupac - California Love
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Enjoy The Silence

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Silent Disco adds a different feel to the dance floor

The dancing is normal, the listening to music though your own individual headphones is not. This is a silent disco. 

The dancing is normal, the listening to music though your own individual headphones is not. This is a silent disco. 

The silent disco concept is something I had heard about in the past year when I saw it on a news program. However I had never experienced it, either as a DJ or an attendee at an event.  The idea of a silent disco is a completely silent dance floor, with no music coming from any speakers. Instead, music is transmitted to headsets that are worn by all the guests.

When I was hired to DJ Lululemon Fashion Valley’s one year anniversary party and was told a silent disco was going to be part of the party, I was excited but also a bit unsure.

I had many questions. How does it work? How do I transmit the music to the headsets? What music should I play? And most importantly, would people even be into it?

Lululemon used Silentstorm, based in San Francisco, to provide the headsets. The devices also came with a wireless transmitter, which I connected my main output to. My “how” question was quickly answered. That transmitter is what is sending the music to all those headsets, 100 in this case.

The headsets have the capability to receive three different signals. This is ideal for a party that has multiple DJs, each spinning a different genre of music. Even more interesting, the headsets have an LED light corresponding to the channel it is set on. This way guests have a visual cue of who is listening to the same music as they are.

In the case of this party, I was the sole music provider and therefore everyone was listening to the same thing. In doing research on past silent disco parties I was clued into the idea of playing familiar music that people typically enjoy singing along too. I thought this was a perfect idea and had a handful of songs at the ready. In the end, during the 30-minute silent portion of the evening I played these songs:

  • Journey - Don't Stop Believing
  • Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby
  • Bell Biv Devoe - Poison
  • Usher - Yeah
  • Montell Jordan - This is How We Do It
  • Backstreet Boys - I Want it That Way
  • Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer
  • Spice Girls - Wannabe
  • Cupid - Cupid Shuffle

It was a fun experience. Although it does present some challenges for a DJ, which I will likely write about in a separate “for DJs only” post … no need to bore everyone else here.

Truly though the proof of how fun it is in the video below, which captures a few clips from a few of the sing alongs. It also answered my last question, “will they really be into it?”

The video basically confirms, yes, indeed everyone was into it. Also, for a complete recap of the party, check out this blog post. 

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Lululemon Athletica Fashion Valley First Anniversary Party

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Happy one year anniversary to the crew at Lululemon Fashion Valley.

Happy one year anniversary to the crew at Lululemon Fashion Valley.

The Lululemon Athletica store located in Fashion Valley Mall celebrated its one year anniversary by closing down the store a little early on a Friday night, inviting some friends and having a big ‘ol dance party.

An acroyoga performance is one way to entertain and impress guests at a party.

An acroyoga performance is one way to entertain and impress guests at a party.

I provided DJ and uplighting services for my Lulu friends. Part of the program also included an acroyoga performance and a silent disco … a first time experience for me.

This unique dance floor experience provides dancers with headphones that were tuned directly into my music. While the purpose is to feed up to three music sources, allowing users to choose between them, on this night it was just me. Given that, I choose a few songs that were known “karaoke” favorites. With everyone’s headphones on, and my main speakers off, I spun hits from Journey, Vanilla Ice, Spice Girls etc. and had the interesting experience of listening to nearly 100 people sing at the top of their lungs with no audible music. Good stuff!

Here’s the setlist from the silent and non-silent parts of the evening.

Cocktail and Arrivals

  • Ariana Grande - One Last Time (Gazzo Remix) (Clean) (Short Edit)

  • Pharrell ft Jay-Z - Frontin (DJ Miles Isla Bootleg) (Extended)

  • Clean Bandit & Jessie Glynn - Real Love (Blaklyte & ALMOND Remix) (Clean) (Extended)

  • Demi Lovato - Cool For The Summer (Cahill Remix) (Dirty) (Short Edit)

  • DJ Sammy - Heaven (Funk3d 2014 Pop Remix) (Short Edit)

  • No Mercy - Where Do You Go

  • Klymaxx - Meeting In The Ladies Room (Select Mix Remix)

  • Phil Collins - Easy Lover (Select Mix Remix)

  • Chaka Khan - I Feel For You (Hot Classics Remix)

  • Zedd ft Selena Gomez - I Want You To Know (Amenzo Remix) (Clean) (Extended)


Acro Yoga Performance

  • Kygo f./Parson James - Stole The Show

  • James Newton Howard f./Jennifer Lawrence - The Hanging Tree (Alternative Radio Mix)

  • Disclosure ft Sam Smith - Latch (G Duppy Reggae Remix) (Clean)

  • Usher - You Make Me Wanna (Intro Clean)

Silent Disco

  • Journey - Don't Stop Believing

  • Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

  • Bell Biv Devoe - Poison

  • Usher - Yeah

  • Party Break - Montel Party Break

  • Backstreet Boys - I Want it That Way

  • Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer

  • Spice Girls - Wannabe

  • Cupid - Cupid Shuffle

**For more about the silent disco portion of the evening and video of the singing/dancing, check out this post. 

Open Dancing

  • Justin Timberlake - Senorita

  • Major Lazer, DJ Snake, MO - Lean On (Select Mix Remix)

  • Britney Spears & Iggy Azalea - Pretty Girls (Promo Only Intro Edit)

  • Fergie - L.A. Love (La La) [Select Mix Remix]

  • Wayne Wonder - No Letting Go

  • The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face (Select Mix Remix)

  • Will Smith - Miami

  • Kid N Play - Ain't Gonna Hurt Nobody (Select Mix Remix)

  • Ella Henderson - Ghost (Oliver Nelson Remix) (Extended)

  • Jason Derulo - Want To Want Me

  • Hailee Steinfeld - Love Myself

  • Pitbull f./Chris Brown - Fun (Clean)

  • Rihanna - B***h Better Have My Money

  • Silento - Watch Me

  • Natalie La Rose f./Jeremih - Somebody

  • Years & Years - King