There are few things that can kill the vibe of a good party faster than a disgruntled neighbor. We’ve all dealt with the person who complains about noise at 8 PM on a Saturday. But what do you do when the complaint isn’t just about the volume, but about the quality of your playlist? One reader, whose party was being terrorized by a neighbor with very strong (and very negative) opinions about their music, shared the story of how her DJ friend found the perfect, petty, and personalized way to shut the complaints down for good.
I was hosting a backyard 30th birthday party for my boyfriend last month. We had about 25 people over, some chill music playing, and a great, relaxed vibe. Or at least, we did, until my neighbor Karen began her one-woman crusade against what she deemed “noise pollution.” She hated our music. So, my friend who was DJing decided to play something she was guaranteed to love: the entire cheesy, over-the-top playlist from her own wedding two months ago.
The ‘Noise Pollution’ Complaint
The party was in full swing by about 8 PM. My friend Leo was DJing, playing a great mix of funk, soul, and feel-good indie rock—nothing offensive, and at a totally reasonable volume. Then Karen, who lives two houses down, marched right into our backyard without an invitation.
“Excuse me,” she announced, making sure everyone could hear her. “I am trying to have a quiet evening, and the thump-thump-thump of this… racket… is giving me a migraine. This music is absolute trash.”
I was mortified. I apologized and asked Leo to turn it down a few notches, which he did immediately. I thought that would be the end of it. An hour later, she was back, this time standing on her porch and shouting. “I can still hear it! This is unacceptable! If you don’t turn off this noise pollution right now, I am calling the police!” She was putting on a full performance for all my guests.
A Walk Down Memory Lane
I was fuming. I went over to talk to Leo, venting about how ridiculous she was being. “She acts like she’s the queen of good taste,” I grumbled. “You should have heard the music at her wedding a couple of months ago. It was the cheesiest stuff you’ve ever heard. Her first dance was to Ed Sheeran, for god’s sake.”
Leo stopped what he was doing. A slow, evil grin spread across his face. “Her wedding playlist, you say?” he asked. “Is that public information, by any chance?”
My eyes went wide. I remembered that Karen, being Karen, had created a public Spotify playlist and a wedding website, and had shared the link with literally everyone on the neighborhood Facebook group. The link was still in my chat history. I pulled it up on my phone and showed him. “You wouldn’t dare,” I said. “Watch me,” he replied.
Now Playing: The Karen & Ken Wedding Suite
Leo faded out the song that was playing. He leaned into the microphone. “Alright, party people! We’ve had a very special request from a very passionate music critic next door,” he announced. “She’s not a fan of our current vibe, so we’re going to switch gears and play a block of tunes we are absolutely certain she’ll love. This next hour is dedicated to Karen!”
He then hit play on her wedding playlist. The first song was the dramatic, instrumental piece she had walked down the aisle to. That was followed by her and her husband’s first dance song: Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect.” Then came the deluge of cheesy 90s power ballads and boy band anthems she had chosen for her reception. Celine Dion, Backstreet Boys, Shania Twain—it was all there.
Our friends who knew Karen were howling with laughter. They recognized the playlist instantly. And Karen, who had been standing on her porch ready for another round of yelling, just froze. Her angry expression melted into one of utter, slack-jawed confusion. As the third Celine Dion song started, you could see the dawning horror on her face. She had been caught.
She couldn’t complain about the volume, because it was lower. And she certainly couldn’t complain about the music choice now. It was her music. It was, in her own words from her wedding website, “the most romantic and timeless soundtrack ever created.” To complain now would be to admit she was a massive hypocrite. She just stood there, bright red, before turning around and slinking back into her house. We didn’t hear another peep from her all night.
We played her music for another hour before switching back. It was the perfect, non-confrontational way to end her reign of terror. My boyfriend, however, thinks we were childish and that we just stooped to her level by publicly mocking her. I think we used her own ego against her to save our party. AITA for our musical malicious compliance?
In the world of petty revenge, this is a symphony of strategic genius. The party hosts were faced with a neighbor who wasn’t just complaining, but insulting their taste and disrupting their event. Instead of escalating the anger, the DJ disarmed her with her own cheesy choices. It was a brilliant, passive-aggressive checkmate, leaving the complainer in a position where her only options were to either listen to her own “perfect” playlist or silently retreat.
What do you think, readers? Was this a hilarious and well-deserved way to handle a “Karen,” or was it a mean-spirited prank that publicly embarrassed a neighbor? Let us know!
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