https://www.brightonfringe.org/whats-on/guru-dudus-silent-disco-walking-tours-125379/
“There’s a special device in your silent disco headsets that auto-tunes your voice so it sounds exactly like the original; so when you’re singing out loud just go for it, it’ll be awesome”, urges Guru Dudu, our Aussie, spandex-clad, DJ-cum-tour guide for this utterly bonkers Fringe experience.
We kick off with some disco moves to warm up in New Road, to the delight of nearby diners, and then move off towards the Laines, all 50-odd of us grooving, shimmying and whooping. With barely any prompting, we immediately shake off any inhibitions, en masse. The music, the naughty pleasure of knowing only we can hear it, the delicious warm evening, and the Guru’s infectious enthusiasm (admirable given his several shows a day throughout May) combine to make this one of the brilliantly, unadulteratedly fun experiences I’ve had this Fringe.
We wend our way through the streets, bopping to the beat, then stopping for some Guru-directed dance moves (“Make two lines on either side of the street! Now car wash this taxi as it goes past!”). Everywhere we go, people stop and stare, open-mouthed, and either join in or take out their phones to film the spectacle. The sense of gleeful abandon is delicious as we head down to the beach. As the sky pearls and the sun sets over the pier, we perform a shouted version of Bohemian Rhapsody, including surrounding and serenading an unsuspecting couple (at least, I hope they were a couple!) with the last few lines.
We cover a whole glut of pop and disco classics from Florence and the Machine’s Spectrum to Gettin’ Jiggy With It (the highlight was taking off my headset to realise the woman next to me didn’t quite get the lyrics and was shouting “Get the chicken with it!” at passersby). We ended, via a joyful ceilidh on a traffic island, with a euphoric celebration of two birthdays and an engagement – and summer, Brighton, strangers, togetherness, silliness, and dance – in Pavilion Gardens as the light faded. It was pure joy.
Guru Dudu is running his disco tours til June 3rd, and promises further events at Edinburgh and later in the summer in Brighton. Catch him if you can!
