A group of boombox fanatics are putting an avant garde spin on the Christmas carol tradition this weekend. The Guardian reported thousands of people from New York to San Francisco will be walking through city centres with vintage boombox cassette players on their shoulders playing an ethereal sound track of bells and chants.
The idea began when composer Phil Kline turned his boombox orchestra into a mobile phenomenon. Kline has been designing pieces for tape recorders since the eighties and in 1992 developed a 45 minute piece for Christmas carolling. Participants in Unsilent Night have a choice of four cassettes. They press play at the same time and then begin to wander the streets with their alternative Christmas music.
The concept has grown from 24 people to thousands. Many now use a smartphone app rather than the original boom box.
It’s a pretty fun communal celebration of the music and mystery of Christmas night.
There have been versions in Sydney and Melbourne; do you think it would take off in Perth?
Noted 