A dance, dance revolution

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Let's make a few things abundantly clear: I don't like dance music, I don't like dancing, and I especially don't like it when dance music is combined with dancing.

I'm already plotting ways in which I can skip out on my own wedding reception. But at Merlin's' Silent Disco Night, something strange happened: I listened to dance music, I danced along to the dance music, and I enjoyed every single minute of it.
I'm as shocked as my future wife no doubt is. I usually avoid these evenings like the plague, but if I heard that Merlin's was putting on another Silent Disco Night –featuring the talents of DJs Mike the Alien, Jimi Ray, and Canosis/Metal – I'd be there before you could say, "Is that guy wearing a donkey mask?"
The theme of the Silent Disco is this: each person is given wireless headphones upon entrance and each set of headphones has three channels. Each channel is dedicated to one of the three DJs playing on the dance floor. Everyone can switch between channels at will, listening at the volume they desire, but the bar itself is SILENT (aside from the occasional "I love this song!" or "No! No way! This is our jaaaaam!").
I've had few moments in my life more hilarious than when I took off my headphones for the first time and heard the throngs of people singing like they thought no one was listening. But people were listening, and they were laughing.
Laughing with them, mind you. Ya, right.
Not to exclude the efforts of the other two DJs, but I'd be remiss if I didn't talk at length about Mat the Alien. Decked out in a full-on donkey mask (the point of which still escapes me), Mat rocked the crowd all night with the likes of Metallica (Enter Sandman), AC/DC (Thunderstruck), and Queen (Another One Bites the Dust), but mixed in with more typical club fare, such as MIA (Paper Planes) and Run DMC (Tricky).

His ability to not only combine these disparate genres – seamlessly – made for the sickest DJ performance I've ever heard. Absolutely incredible.
Merlin's is certainly worthy of its reputation as one of the best bars in Whistler. The three levels allow for plenty of dance space, while still leaving room for the resigned boyfriends to chill out minus all the random bumping and grinding. Merlin's strikes that perfect balance between bar and dance bar.
If you have one more night left in Whistler before you leave for the mundane existence that is life without the Olympics, you won't be disappointed if you spend it at Merlin's. And if you somehow, some way hear about a bar that's having a Silent Disco Night, do it.
Seriously, though. what is up with that donkey mask?!

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