The Decentralized Dance Party Was Founded On The Belief That Partying Has The Power To Transform The World.
And This Will Soon Come To Pass.
Below is a lengthy-yet-luminous recounting of the DDP’s genesis and evolution, followed by all the details of our plan to deliver it to Every Single Country On The Face Of The Earth and usher in a new era of peace and prosperity.
Well worth your time.
(please note that this page needs to be updated…)
From time immemorial, human beings have gathered at night to sing and dance and celebrate life; to share music and laughter and set their spirits free.
But with the encroachment of modern civilization came the regulation and commodification of all public life. The traditions were lost, and the soul of Partying faded further and further from memory…
But we have a plan.
A plan to restore the soul and ensure that Partying is respected, legitimized and forever enshrined as a cultural institution of paramount importance.
It’s called Tom and Gary’s Decentralized Dance Party AKA The Party Revolution.
In case that video didn’t make sense, here’s a live explanation / demonstration:
My best friend Tom and I invented the DDP three years ago, in our hometown of Vancouver, BC. We loved to Party, and thought that invading the streets with thousands of synchronized boomboxes would be the coolest thing ever.
And it caught on fast, growing from 20 people to 20,000 in only six months!
Harnessing the power of social media, we’ve now shared the DDP with over 30 major cities across North America and are gearing up to deliver it to Every Single Country On The Face Of The Earth.
But the technicalities aren’t important right now. We must first discuss THE ESSENCE!
HOW IS THE DDP UNIQUE?
DDPs are hosted exclusively in public spaces and completely open for anyone to join. Everyone of every age, background and style is encouraged to come out and let loose. These are the most inclusive Parties possible.
The other important distinction is that the participants literally ARE the music. Hand someone a boombox and they are transformed. They literally become the show. Boombox Heroes.
The end result is a crazed communal undertaking that everyone contributes to in order to construct an ever-evolving manifestation of their heart’s desires; a new style of collaborative fun creation we like to call “Open-Source Partying“.
It’s like a wedding reception, crossbred with Burning Man, mercilessly invading your city’s streets, subways, and fountains. A celebration of Life and Liberty that rages all night long. The evolution of the flashmob.
And as the whole operation is crowdfunded, the only branding to be found is on the signs we hand out that say “Fun” on them. We’re in the business of creating pure joy, the only bottom line that truly matters.
And by liberating the Party from all traditional venues, restrictions, and hierarchies, a very interesting result is achieved…
HOW DOES IT AFFECT THOSE WHO PARTICIPATE?
Six months into our Party career, during the 2010 Olympics, DDP attendance exploded. Spreading like wildfire through the social networks, we were attracting an unbelievable spectrum of human beings: moms, dads, punks, jocks, nerds, goths, soldiers, skids, homeless people; every age group, background and style was represented.
And people were starting to get really creative; constructing elaborate costumes, organizing epic dance routines, and building portable light shows, fog machines, and sound systems.
And another new phenomenon had also caught our attention. People saying things like: “I just danced for 5 straight hours, and I don’t even dance, and I wasn’t even drunk” OR “We showed up with beer, but had so much fun that we forgot to even drink it.” OR “You can do whatever you want and it doesn’t matter. It’s like no other Party. It’s complete Liberation.”
Although the donations we’d received up to that point didn’t even begin to cover the cost of all the boomboxes and batteries, we knew we had to keep this thing going.
So we set up a bunch of Facebook events across Canada, as an experiment…
They blew up immediately, and we had no choice but to rent a huge RV, fill it with 200 boomboxes and 6 friends wearing banana suits, extend our credit, cross our fingers, and embark on a 12,000km “Party Safari” adventure…
In spite of dire warnings about “Crazy Easterners”, we were met with the same results every single night; hundreds of people raving about the sense of unparalleled freedom and saying: “that was the best night of my life.”
But the most striking phenomenon throughout it all was that, in spite of the huge crowds, insane atmosphere, and crazy mix of young people rampaging through the streets, everyone behaved really well. There were no fights, drinking tickets, acts of property destruction, or problems with the police at all.
During our Parties, there was a near-total “loss of self” wherein thousands of people were liberated from their established cultural conditioning and became one with the crowd.
This “mass cognitive compliance” is a phenomenon I’ve witnessed in only one other situation: the Vancouver hockey riot of 2011.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpkpjdQTmm4
Although DDPs often appear strikingly similar to riots (see below), by controlling our crowds with upbeat music and promoting a positive, open atmosphere, we were able to consistently soothe the savage beast.
We had something very special on our hands. Our Parties were uniting and inspiring people in a totally new way. It was time for some serious analysis…
THE PARTY MANIFESTO:
Tom and I and most of our friends had always instinctually known how to Party. The crazy clothes, the radical tunes, getting absolutely ridiculous with zero inhibition. We never gave it a second thought.
But the unique social phenomena surrounding the DDP now led to some very serious philosophizing. What the hell WAS Partying anyhow?
By early 2011 we had it all figured out, and released
“The Party Manifesto AKA The Seven Commandments Of Successful Partying“.
Wherein we defined Partying as:
“Forgetting Who You Are While Remembering What You Are”
OR
“The Complete Loss Of The Social Conditioning That Makes Adult Life Monotonous And Depressing.”
It details the seven steps required to elevate a Party to its highest potential:
1. CLOTHING:
Partying is all about letting go of your inhibitions. Kickstart the process by throwing on a ridiculous costume. If the Party has a theme, go to the extreme. Lead the charge and maximize the fun for everyone. Do not attempt to Party in normal clothing or look cool, because nothing is cool except having fun and feeling good and sharing that with others.
2. PROPS:
In order to take the Party to the next level, you must drag out the trampolines, pogo sticks, rollerblades, hula hoops, jump ropes, beach balls, shake weights, musical instruments and etc. Anything you can hoist, bounce off, or roll on. And share them all night long.
3. MUSIC:
Next-level Partying requires the infectious, high-energy stuff that will force everyone to sing and dance: Booty Bass, Eurodance, Party Metal, Jock Jams and Choice Hard Rock. The songs people know and love. And it must also be as loud as possible. A Party is no place for conversation.
4. DANCING:
You might think dancing is hard and requires practice. Not so. Just stop thinking, let go and allow the music to be your master. You will instantly be having fun and feeling good and others will be impressed and inspired to dance also.
5. BEHAVIOR:
As children, we constantly climb on, jump off, and explore everything. We want to run, scream, sing, dance, and play as hard as our bodies will allow.
We are fearlessly responding to nature’s Divine Programming, which western society works very hard to subvert and destroy by incessantly training us to sit still and be quiet and follow the rules and dress and act identically so that we can join the labor force and reproduce another batch who will do the same.
It destroys our natural fun-seeking, creative impulses and is the reason so many are depressed and afraid to sing or dance or deviate from the norm. Overcoming this conditioning is a formidable challenge. Partying can get us there.
6. LOCATION / ATMOSPHERE:
Dark locations lower everyone’s inhibitions and are ideal, although sunglasses can be a viable alternative. Party lights and fog machines are also necessary. The atmosphere must be as crazy and high-energy as possible.
That’s why it is better to Party outdoors DDP style. You cannot Party indoors and do it right without wrecking your house. And Partying in a club means you have to be of age and spend a ton of money and the atmosphere is controlled and there’s a curfew and you can’t bring props in there.
Once outdoors, the Party is released from these restrictions and can be shared with an unlimited number of new friends and everyone is free to get as wild as possible.
7. ALCOHOL:
People drink a lot at most Parties because most Parties are boring and drinking is therefore necessary to loosen up and have fun. This is due to poor music, dull clothing, lack of props and lame atmosphere; all of which inhibit singing and dancing and living free.
But if the Party is really good, the atmosphere alone will cause people to lose their inhibitions and freak out and drive the energy to ridiculous heights and make it an incredible experience for everyone. Creating a Party like that is very hard to do, but it should be the goal every time.
A very wise man we met a little further down the road put it best:
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
When we initiated the Party Revolution, we had no idea how the world would respond, or if Partying in public was something that would still resonate with people.
But it is now very clear that we’re all still fundamentally programmed to come together to share music and laughter and that the soul of Partying is alive and well.
CAN THAT ASSERTION BE EMPIRICALLY PROVEN?
It’s really the only explanation for the fact that the DDP has been so well received in every single one of the 33 cities we’ve taken it to across North America on five different Party Safari tours. (lovingly detailed here)
We generally don’t know anyone in the places we throw the Parties. All we do is set up Facebook event pages and Kickstarter fundraisers and send emails to a few random leads and let the universe do the rest.
It’s all promoted and fund-raised by the power of social media and word of mouth alone. The whole operation is fundamentally Of The People, By The People, For The People.
And beyond that, we’ve had countless people open their homes to us, feed us, help us scout the Party routes, and prepare and transport the boomboxes. Complete strangers, almost every single time. And the police in these cities almost always end up providing full impromptu escorts across the entire city. Sometimes they even dance.
Partying together in public is definitely a fundamental human desire. The concept just resonates with people. Thousands of them…
“Music Is The Universal Human Language, Dancing Is The Universal Human Movement, and Partying Is The Universal Human Identity.”
AND WHAT OF THE GLOBAL PARTY PANDEMIC?
The Global Party Pandemic (GPP) will only commence once we’ve developed the GPP website and created a very important film, entitled: “Another Night, Another Dream”.
The film and website will be released in 2017, as part of a massive publicity campaign to launch The Global Party Pandemic AKA The Grand Unification Tour.
WILL THE GRAND UNIFICATION TOUR REALLY UNIFY THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD?
It will if everything goes according to plan.
SO WHAT’S THE PLAN?
We deliver the DDP to Every Single Country On The Face Of The Earth, including all the craziest hotbeds of strife and division, inspiring everyone to come together and peacefully celebrate, leaving behind a bunch of Autonomous DDP Party Cells in every single one.
Everything will be filmed, and segments featuring each country will be released online and on television, in order to build a massive global audience who are all down with The Party Manifesto and stoked to DDP ASAP.
Then we transmit a Simultaneous Global Dance Party to everyone within reach of a radio tower or internet connection and create a crazy night of Global Unity, where all inhibitions are erased and it is clearly demonstrated that all men are brothers and we should stop all the fussing and the fighting and live forever onwards in total peace and harmony.
It will be reminiscent of the fabled WWI Christmas truce, wherein 100,000 British and German soldiers “laid down their arms and joined in a spontaneous celebration“.
It’ll be a giant leap for mankind, and the coolest human achievement since we shot a monkey into space and we’ll be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Partying.
And during our acceptance speech, we’ll make the suggestion that all the countries of the world allocate 50% of their defense budgets towards Partying for a year. And within the year, everyone will be Partying together everywhere and world peace will be achieved.
And we will win the Nobel Prize again. And claim it wearing banana suits. And everyone will live happily ever after.
YOU KNOW, THAT’S JUST CRAZY ENOUGH IT COULD WORK. CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH IT ALL STEP BY STEP?
We set up Kickstarters, let’s call them “PartyStarters”, in Every Single Country On The Face Of The Earth, 192 in total, for $25,000 each. And our website will have a huge interactive map, where people can see how close each country is to reaching its goal.
For each country, the inhabitants will also be enabled to create and vote on a playlist, including traditional, danceable songs from their local cultures and tunes from our master playlist of Eurodance / Bon Jovi / Journey /Meatloaf / etc. Tunes that are loved unconditionally by everyone everywhere.
Once a fundraising goal is reached, Tom and Gary and the Elite Banana Task Force will parachute in, equipped with only one boombox each and our radio transmitter. We’ll then have 10 days and $10,000 to build or acquire as many boomboxes as possible, promote the Party, scout the route, win over the local authorities, and throw the Party
And it’ll all be filmed, to create a series of 20-minute episodes, allowing everyone around the world to partake in the adventure and chart our progress.
We’ll also check out the local Party culture and connect with music-loving locals and enable as many Autonomous DDP Party Cells as possible.
Then we’ll cap things off with “The ‘Stan Tour”, which consists of all seven countries ending in ‘Stan: (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan).
We plan to traverse all the ‘Stans in our usual “Canadream” rental RV. You’ll hear us say: “Another Night, Another Canadream” like every 5 minutes.
Once we’ve Partied every single country on the planet, the Canadream will proceed directly to “The Country That Does Not Exist”, to host our Simultaneous Global Dance Party.
THAT’S GOING TO TAKE LIKE TEN YEARS TO COMPLETE.
Yeah, actually just realized that. So the new plan is to set everything up as described above, but only the first 50 countries to reach their goals will be chosen and we’ll just remotely enable the rest to host autonomous DDPs. We never said we’d deliver them all personally 😉
BUT THEN WON’T IT JUST BE ALL THE RICH COUNTRIES THAT GET CHOSEN?
Well, since it’s an Interactive Multimedia Adventure, hopefully the people who are following it will donate money to the crazier places, like the DMZ between North and South Korea, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip and South Africa and all the other hotbeds of strife and division. We really want to bring people together in those places and put the Party Manifesto to the ultimate test.
So yeah, we’ll have our top ten Priority Party Locations designated, and until they’re all funded, we won’t go anywhere.
THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT COULD WORK. AND EVEN IF IT DOESN’T, GREAT THINGS WILL DEFINITELY COME OF IT ALL, RIGHT?
To quote Baden Moir, a man of great wisdom:
“DDP is revolutionary. It breaks moulds. Therefore, the impact can not be measured until one looks back on the books of history.
By making such an impact at the core level of a human being, the effects will scatter outwards further. By unlocking minds and trying new and different approaches, we might have new and different outcomes.
The DDP addresses issues at their core: rejection of fear, bringing out positivity, expression, change, uniting a society, bonding on a personal and intimate level with fellow human beings.”
MAYBE NOW’S THE TIME TO GET A LITTLE METAPHYSICAL?
Sure, why not.
We absolutely believe that Partying has the power to be a transformational spiritual experience and that the fallout from this thing, in the coming years, will be massive.
What happens, when thousands of people are brought together and simultaneously liberated from all earthly concerns?
When we’re out there, living free; vibrating in unison with so many close friends and complete strangers, in the middle of our cities, for no other reason than it feels good…
And what will those who participate go on to do, after Feeling That Way, and with the knowledge that something like this Can and Does exist?
What does it mean, and what will it mean? What future resonance will our Partying have?
It’s impossible to know, but we are Proving It Is Possible.
COOL, NOW CAN YOU PLEASE WRAP IT UP?
The next step is to release a $25,000 Kickstarter fundraiser that will allow us to create Another Night, Another Dream and develop The Global Party Pandemic website.
The Kickstarter will be released on March 6th, so please join our Mailing List, Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter to get notified and keep abreast of everything DDP.
And if you live anywhere in the world that deserves a DDP, Email to let us know, using the subject header text “GLOBAL PARTY PANDEMIC”.
THANKS!
Tom and Gary and The Elite Banana Task Force.
WHAT ELSE ARE YOU GUYS UP TO?
We are developing the Social Stereo, a revolutionary new Open-Source Boombox that will be a key component in The Party Revolution and surely alter the course of history.
This is one of the best projects I have ever seen. Thank you guys for making it happen.
Hi guys! When r u comming to Vancouver?!
We need you all in Winnipeg party with us and the Winnipeg Jets #GoJetsGo
VANCOUVER!!!!!!! please please!
Lethbridge.
Sydney Australia !!!
Just saw you on German/French TV. Looks great, do you have any plan to export the concept in Europe ?
Come to Germany!
Pingback: PARTY SAFARI USA #2 WAS A SUCCESS! | Tom and Gary's Decentralized Dance Party
When are you comming bak to Austin? We loved you! You came on my birthday on March 10th during Spring Break, lemme just say, BEST F*CKIN BIRTHDAY EVER!!!!!
Germany is waiting for you!
Pingback: Eva Petakovic, unfucking the world in Columbia, MO, USAUnfuck The World
Come back home and cross on the ferry to VICTORIA!!!
This hasn’t happened in Germany before? I went to a similar themed 6 years ago – ‘Street Party’ in Denmark where anyone living on a select few blocks put boomboxes out their windows on the same frequency. Was insane!
Pingback: Yes, You Can Party For A Living: Meet Gary Lachance, Founder of The Decentralized Dance Party | The X Factor
Pingback: Another Year Has Passed… | The Inspirational Meanderings Of Gary Lachance
Please come back to Victoria BC soon. You provided one of the best nights I’ve ever had! Keep the party going, you guys rock!
Pingback: Unfucking the world in Missouri, USAUnfuck The World
Pingback: Unfucking the world in Missouri, USAUnfuck The World
Pingback: Next DDP: Anarchapulco 2019! | Tom and Gary's Decentralized Dance Party