Thank you to everyone who joined us at 110 South Front Street over the weekend, whether you attended, performed, or worked the event. Some of you did all three! We honor the thrashers, the LUVers, the headbangers, the poets, the bartenders, the laser wizards, the jokers, the guitar gods, the truth tellers, the treadmill divas, the artists, the security guards, the party animals, the projectionists, the field recorders, the readers, the mystics, the golfers, and the poets among you.

Left: Kinlaw vibrant haze Right: T4T LUV NRG laser sea


There are too many credits and too many thank yous to fit into one recap, but please enjoy a few iconic photos from the weekend (all by Chase Bauer unless otherwise noted).

Left: Maria BC stunning in the North Hall Right: Bob Braine on view in the Gallery

Friday’s party was easily the biggest that has ever happened here with a palpable, sweaty joy on the dancefloor. Thank you to Eris Drew & Octo Octa for bringing their records and their sound system and going barefoot in the booth. We had enthusiastic dancers giving it their all until the very last record spun, leaving it all on the dance floor. Nitemind was behind the lighting desk all weekend long and their team did incredible things with a hazer, a laser, and a few hung lights – our rafters bathed in pulsating color. Special thanks to the Bunker for presenting and for sharing their deep party wisdom, this was one for the books.

Left: Ella Ghent mystic charm Right: Octo Octa & Eris Drew in the booth


There were only four hours of sunrise silence between Friday’s load out and Saturday’s load in. We hosted ten straight hours of nearly uninterrupted live music followed by some extremely cute dancing in the West Wing for our second day of SoundScape. Many of you were daring enough to make the full use of your weekend passes – shout out to you.

Saturday started off with the chic abrasions of Open Head just absolutely ripping it in the North Hall – it’s no easy feat to begin a festival and they absolutely brought the no wave heat. As they played, Kinlaw hazed out the Main Hall and, as soon as they finished, delivered an iconic set on the floor and in the round, panting on a treadmill and unleashing a torrrent of ping pong balls. As the fog lifted, the five-piece Babehoven band took the stage – Maya’s vocals soared celestially over heavy, syrupy strums, local heroes.

Left: E L U C I D locked in Right: Rahill rocking the afterparty


In deep contrast, perhaps the gnarliest set of the day followed – Couch Slut at maximum volume on the Main Hall stage got right the f*** up in your face, vibrato bridge guitar abuse and crash cymbal chugging. Greg Mendez brought it all the way back down, breaking hearts with his frank, spare songs – we opened the windows and we craned our necks in to hear. As sun set over the river, Cassandra Jenkins filled the Main Hall with recordings of bugs at dusk – awash in blue light, she sang, mega enchantment.

Though there was hardly a break between sets on Saturday, we hope you found time to browse the offerings of our tablers in the West Wing – Better Read than Dead put together an incredible selection of rare books, best ever label Sacred Bones pulled out all the stops, and Everything Nice from Ellenville even brought a turntable listening station. Isn’t it so cute to see people carrying around used books and records while they walk around a festival? It was so great, also, that the Gallery remained open through the weekend. It’s a beautifully reimagined space filled with a lifetime of thought provoking work by artist Bob Braine that served well as a sort of de facto art chill out room. Throughout the weekend, too, we were lucky enough to eat food by Local 111 who consistently offer thoughtful and delicious fare at our events – it’s a crucially important task during such a marathon event.


Maria BC’s set made great use of the North Hall’s cinema capabilities – they sang their unbelievably gorgeous songs joined on stage by Saber who projected eerie, organic forms onto the screen. And then with the most minimal of gear Still House Plants played a captivating, hypnotic set of deconstructed rock, if you could even call it that – mesmerizing and wrought deep from the gut. E L U C I D followed with a beautifully confrontational set of smeared, power ambient hip hop.

Left: rainbow chute remains a classic Right: more T4T LUV NRG


Keeping a beloved SoundScape tradition alive, John-Francis Quiñonez lead us in breathing and read poems after Kate Bush from the spotlight rafter door while Helado Negro – who easily wins the trophy for cutest lil sexy dances – took his seat at the Wurlitzer, delightful. And though we were rolling with unexpected scheduling conflicts beyond our control, the hybrid spectral P̶u̶s̶s̶y̶ ̶R̶i̶o̶t̶ Siberia set delivered pink-hued catharsis. Then there was what some people are calling “the gnarliest s*** I’ve ever seen” – Lightning Bolt in fine, chaotic form, absolutely blasting it out with demented and delightful high contrast lighting from Nitemind – a pit opened up, a peak music experience.


And as if that weren’t enough, the cutest hang of an afterparty popped up in the West Wing – all vinyl and all smiles brought to you by Jess Clark and Eleanor Friedberger (aka DJs Everything Nice) followed by some absolute heaters selected by Rahill. Tons of boogie, lots of dance floor hugs, and some killer deep cuts.

Left: Still House Plants transcends Right: Rock Academy making us all so proud :”)


And though beautifully enough there were plenty of babies, children, and people of all ages in attendance on Friday and Saturday, on Sunday we turned it over to the youth. Soothsaying mystic Ella Ghent blessed us with visions and unicylcing in a story hour presented by the Hudson Area Library and then Rock Academy absolutely destroyed a two hour set of inspired covers, including songs by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Paramore, and Boston, among many others. Not a dry eye in the house! These kids were killing it!


You would hardly recognize the Main Hall – the astroturf, gnomes, and giant inflatable flamingo of Lucid Dream Mini Golf took over the stage and concrete floor for a final surreal putt putt experience while we posed for photos in the Thrift 2 Fight booth and toddlers ran around with jump ropes, hula hoops, and a rainbow parachute (still a classic). Reminders to my Future Self taught us to embrace imperfection while we ripped images from magazines and Kite’s Nest encouraged us all to listen deeper. PM Press challenged the status quo with their book offerings and literally everyone enjoyed free cups of ice cream courtesy of Del’s Roadside. Then finally, after a long and beautifully chaotic weekend, Guy Blakeslee took care of us with a tremendously tender electric soundbath – a drone to send it home.

Left: Babehoven sweet and syrupy Right: Lightning Bolt none more thunderous

Basilica SoundScape is no easy feat – a full weekend of production, guest services, and logistics such as this takes many hands, a lot of sweat, and eighteen thousand emails.

Planning it and curating it is one thing – executing it is another. Tremendous credit is due to our beautiful, hard-working team of box office attendants, beverage fetchers, room tidiers, and the ever-on-top-of-it stage hands. Our production leads, too, deserve all the praise – Mike Amari gracefully welcomed our performers, Dan Stout stage managed and provided crucial technical knowledge, and Nick Dixon did incredible work running sound in the North Hall.

Volunteers – working shifts in exchange for tickets – helped people find parking, they sold our merch, and they scooped our ice cream, among other tasks. TYSM for the help – we couldn’t have done it without you.

And of course the staff of Basilica Hudson and 110 South Front Street work hard year round:
Executive Director – Stacy Morrison
Director of Programs – Ben Seretan
Program Manager – Xe Davis
Rental & Staff Coordinator – Jeanne Stark / Hudson Valley Ceremonies
Managing Director, Basilica Industries – Tricia Reed
Building Facilities – Abe Etkin

Left: Cassandra Jenkins at dusk (photo by Will Flamholtz) Right: John-Francis Quiñonez reading in the rafters (photo by David Bruce)


But perhaps the most important aspect of all of this is that people have to gather – it wouldn’t be worth doing if you hadn’t shown up and we do not take your presence for granted. Thank you for being here.

It was a good one – – – until next year / / / /

Left: Helado Negro, just effortlessly charismatic Right: Open Head doing the damn thing

Basilica SoundScape is curated by Brandon Stosuy and Melissa Auf der Maur.

Presented with additional support from The Creative Independent.

Festival support generously provided in part by Gotham and ArtPower

Season support generously provided in part by Herrington’s and Kneller Insurance.

Thanks to our other partners and supporters:


Tubby’s Kingston / the Avalon Lounge / Willow Pond Motel / Changing Times Lodging / Stewart’s Shops / Recess Beverages / Liquid Death /  Hudson North Ciders / Del’s Roadside