After years behind the decks, Hobart DJ Karoline Kent saw an opportunity to create a different kind of dancefloor experience – one that delivers all the energy and connection of a great night out, but with an earlier finish that fits more easily around work, family life and weekend plans.
Wanting to give people the chance to dance for hours and still head home at a reasonable time, she decided to create her own event.
Kent, who performs under the name Track + Field, is launching Afternoon Delight on May 30 at The Grand Poobah on Liverpool Street in Hobart.
The idea came from a desire to recreate the feeling of clubbing’s golden era.
“I remember the dance floors back in the day without mobile phones,” Kent said.
“We were there for the music. You couldn’t actually even see the DJ. It was all about experiencing the music of that era and I want to bring that back.”
She said a friend recently told her she’d gone out for the first time in 20 years and loved it but struggled with the late night.
“Oh my goodness, I missed it so much, but the thing that was the hardest for me was being up so late and then losing my whole weekend,” the friend told Kent.
“So this is an opportunity to go back to all those days that we loved, but we get to go home by dinner.”
She said she’d love to explore phone-free events in the future but isn’t banning devices just yet.
“We all now kind of need that, especially if we have other responsibilities like children or aging parents where we want to have our phones just in case they need us,” Kent said.
The four-hour event runs from 3pm to 7pm and will feature dance music spanning the 1970s through to the 2000s.
Attendees are encouraged to dress up in the style of their favourite decade, with a prize for the best outfit as voted by the crowd.
She has made her event open to all ages.
“I think that there are young people out there who actually do like a lot of the old music,” she said.
“I get requests from young people all the time for things from, you know, 20, 30 years ago. So I didn’t want to exclude them either.”
At its heart, Kent said the event is about community and connection.
“I’m certainly struggling to reconnect with friends,” she said.
“It’s just an opportunity for people to get together with their pals again and have a good time and just be face to face, not over the phone.”
Tickets are available now online.
