It was 11:20 a.m. Just another typical sunny Saturday morning in Concord. The Concord Arts Market was in full swing down in Bicentennial Square. Vendors were hawking their wares and people were browsing around, taking in the sights and sounds. The Scott Solsky Quartet took a quick setbreak, and some danceable tunes started pumping through the public address system. All of a sudden, people started streaming in from the outskirts of the square, dancing all the way. They grouped up and launched into a choreographed dance routine, much to the surprise and delight of the crowd that swiftly gathered.
“It's a flash mob,” someone shouted, and they were right. In fact, it was the first appearance of the Concord Area Flash Mob. Formed by Jon and Jessica Fogg, the mob is the first of its kind in Concord.
“It's just a group of people getting together and having fun,” Fogg said. “Some of us are good dancers, some of us aren't. It's just about having fun.”
Flash mobs are pre-planned events that appear spontaneous. Usually they involve a group of people converging on a set public location and participating in an incongrous choreographed event, like dancing or sustained applause. The mobs are often coordinated via social media.
The first recorded flash mob took place in 2003, organized by Harper's Magazine editor Bill Wasik. The trend grew popular in much the same way that flash mobs themselves operate: One minute, everything was normal, and the next, it seemed like they were everywhere. From YouTube videos to Oprah's audience and even some sitcoms (Fogg said she got the idea from an episode of “Modern Family”), flash mobs are very much a part of the public conscious. Once one actually starts happening around you, however, it's hard not to be surprised and even harder not to be delighted.
Jon Greenberg was taking in the arts market when he got swept up in the craziness of the flash mob. He immediately hopped up to a higher vantage point and started filming the antics with his smartphone.
“I'm totally into exuberance and public displays of anything creative,” Greenberg said. “More power to them.”
The Concord Area Flash Mob practiced surreptitiously for weeks leading up their debut at the Arts Market. The secrecy and subsequent surprise of the event were appealing to the new members of the fledgling group, like Trish Ward of Concord.
“When you're getting emails that read 'TOP SECRET,' you just have to participate,” Ward said.
The mob got funky through a series of songs during their guerilla dance display, from “Apache” by the Incredible Bongo Band to “Cotton Eye Joe” by Rednex. At one point, the group snaked its way through the crowd in a conga line, sweeping up mob members planted in the audience as well as random onlookers whose happy feet got the best of them. As it all wrapped up, a tag played over the PA, proclaiming that “Concord Got Cool When You Weren't Looking,” the movement under whose auspices the flash mob operates.
“We did it just to bring a cool, fun event to Concord,” Fogg said. “It's going in such a great direction anyway.”
Arts Market coordinator Katy Brown Solsky was thrilled to see the flash mob strut their stuff.
“Everything about that was so cute that my face hurts from smiling,” Solsky said.
The mob appeared to be quite well-received, and they are considering making future appearances.
“Look out for us,” mob member Kaleena Guzman said. Of course, she couldn't say where. That would ruin the surprise. But keep your eyes and ears peeled, Concord. Who knows where they might pop up next?
