Events

[PARTY] When Kevin Bell saw a silent disco at Bonnaroo several years ago, he was less than impressed. “I didn’t agree with how they were running it,” Bell says. “It stayed in the back of my head for years.” At 30 years old, Bell is the owner and co-founder of SE2: Silent Disco, a fledgling entertainment company that specializes in putting on a very unique type of show. For the uninitiated: a “silent disco” is a live show where the sounds from the DJs and performing artists are beamed into wireless headphones worn by audience members. Take the headphones off, and you’re surrounded by people seemingly dancing to nothing—a silent disco.

Since starting the company around a year and a half ago, Bell has put on numerous “silent discos,” from a sideshow at the Music Is Art Festival to the neon madness of the psychedelic-light-infused and widely attended Silent Glow show on the west side in April. The upcoming Silent Disco at Stamps Bar, 198 Main St, Tonawanda on Saturday, “Hip Hop Don’t Stop,” is SE2’s first foray into hip hop culture. The extensive lineup for the night boasts eight of the city’s most idiosyncratic DJs, spinning their own specialized mixes across two live channels that audience members can alternate between, as well as a third channel for requests. The local talent on the turntables will include DJ Bando, DENZELWORLDPEACE, Deztination, DJ N!TEL!TE, DJ UNknown¿, MIOSI, SKYLR, and VICE VERSA—turning the genre of hip hop inside out, outside in, and playing it all night.

Bell runs the company through a tight circle of associates, family and friends—at this point amassing a significant, 500-deep cache of high-quality headphones manufactured in China by a Nashville tycoon—a man with whom Bell’s crew was pulled into an unlikely partnership. After all, he had the original patent on the headphones and ended up admiring the reach of Bell’s operation. At this point Bell is working from a master list of over 100 DJs to put on a web of events that harness the raw talent of the region’s music and electronica scenes. Hey, don’t worry—he does weddings too. Catch the Silent Disco at Stamps on Saturday or one of Electric BBQ events.