Submit
Rocking Out in Silence at the Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary
The unconventional idea of having the masses rock out in silence started because the Sziget Music Festival—one of Europe's largest with over 1000 performances—creates a major noise problem for downtown Budapest. Walking into a disco, everyone is given a set of wireless headphones. The room is packed and filled with artificial smoke. Smells Like Teen Spirit comes on and crowd cheers. Heads weave and bop to Cobain’s guitar chords. We are rocking out together, lost in a grungy sonic nostalgia for our lost high school years. At the chorus, I take off the headphones and hear a crowd of my own generation, half of whom don’t speak English, screaming at the top of their lungs: “Here we are now, entertain us!”
Add a Comment
