An Honest Review of the Hudson Project
This past weekend I had the honor of doing press for the first ever Hudson Project Festival. Many believed Hudson was the replacement for what seems to be the now deceased Camp Bisco. Expectations were high and depending on what you were looking for, those expectations were either met or you came out disappointed.
We came in a bit late for media check in but we got our wristbands and were ready to head out. Little did we know I had packed a lot and underestimated the journey that it took to get to the actual camp grounds.
The way it worked is that if you had on-site parking you could park on-site and walk your stuff at most half a mile. If you had camp and go parking. You had to park AT will call, WAIT in line to take a shuttle to the Festival Grounds, get searched (I was lucky to not get heavily searched as I've seen them dissect everyone's stuff), and make another trip back to grab more stuff if need be.
Granted we pulled it off and got most of our things in one go. Once you got to the festival grounds however, you had to walk your stuff at least another half mile to get to the camping grounds. Luckily we took a festival cab (big golf cart) to lug our stuff in with the great price of 5$ per seat used. So I had to pay 15$ to get all our stuff to a suitable location. Once we set up camp it was meeting great people and fun from there.
Day 1
As someone working Media who had a photographer that received NO photo essentials, this was quite the bother. Especially when your "media" wristband only got you access to the media tent with outlets/lockers/and a somewhat private tent to conduct interviews. That was really it. Media wasn't allowed in the photo pits, side stages, or anything. So myself who usually dresses to look at least somewhat professional given the circumstance was forced to stay in a muddy area where half my time was listening to music and avoiding eating the floor. Aside from that lets break the music down.
Best sets of the day came from Keys 'N Krates, Bro Safari, Odesza, Lindsay Lowend, and Savoy. All 5 had the energy and with some track selection that captivated the festival crowd.
Worst set went to Excision who had the crowd energy because of his name but not the track selection that would have made go "wow".
Day 2
Day 2 started off a lot better since we were already set up. I went in for Kastle, Jaques Greene, Luminox, Tokimonsta, Big G, Kendrick Lamar, Moby, and Griz.
Kastle, Jaques Greene, and Luminox impressed me for their first times seeing them live.
Big G had gathered the first large crowd I saw at main stage during that time and had the whole crowds attention with their pure energy and dropping their own mashup of What so Not's "Jaguar" and "Tell Me" which had the crowd go wild. With the festivals first rain shower happening during their set. Big G took full advantage of the weather and had the crowd screaming as the rain drops fell on their heads and Big G just went louder and louder.
Tokimonsta was my personal favorite of the festival. While she didn't have the biggest crowd in the catskill cave, her set was deserving of one. With a stellar track selection filled with deep house, hip-hop, and trap. Jennifer Lee had the crowd at her fingertips whilst exposing new music to the festival goers. Tokimontsa took a risk, choosing to ignore whats hot in the festival scene right now, she went and put on a sort of musical journey for those lucky enough to see her set.
Kendrick Lamar and Moby put on shows that everyone expected to give. Nothing really ground-shaking from my perspective but still okay set to be honest.
Day 3
As I'm writing this, there are still most likely hundreds of people still stuck by the festival site. To those who still are, I wish you the safest of travels and I hope you all make it back home.
Anywho, I woke up and had gotten my stuff ready to bring back to the car because I didn't want to get caught in the rain. It was ultimately the best move I could have made. I came back to the festival grounds to see a bit of lunice before heading back to hang with friends. A little bit after Lunice's set. The festival had been put on suspension due to inclement weather approaching.
People were recommended to return to their cars and could return to the camp sites after the initial storm had passed. Whilst those who returned to their cars retreaded back. I was part of the few that stayed. A little bit of rain can't hurt anybody right? The storm had came and the rain had piled up on hills people were camped on. Those who were on the bottom were ultimately fucked. Camping supplies and even tents started drifting in the small rivers that were developing on the camp grounds and you had a lot of moments. This however wasn't fun for those who had left their stuff behind. Tents were slashed, whole campsites had gone afloat, and people were upset. The news got even more upsetting when people find out the festival shut down for good. This nearly started a riot in the Bronx camping site and chaos just in-sued.
Whilst many were still partying anyway, the festival organizers tried their best to set up shelter and get people out of the festival as best they could. However they weren't prepared for it. Those who came out to see Bassnectar (Because lets be real here a majority came to see him) were screwed over of not only their day of music but had wasted their money which is potentially hundreds getting to the fest and bringing stuff such as alcohol and food for it. The refund that Hudson will HAVE to give will not compensate for what people paid for to get there. On top of the struggle and pain that has happened from yesterday into today.
I could keep ranting on about the security, lack of preparation but those who went will repost this and add on to the shit on top of shit that went down this weekend.
Final Thoughts: The music of the Hudson Project was great. That's what I loved along with the BBQ pulled pork Sandwich.
What I didn't like was the following.
-Security: What i didn't like was that not only did people coming in have to go through AT LEAST 2 check points. Those caught and arrested were booked then came back. No simply throwing out drugs or anything. People were booked with felonies and came back. Which attributes to the corrupt justice system that we have but that's a rant for another day. Not to mention reports of cops rolling around the camp grounds during the storm and after it. They were STILL trying to bust people for drugs whilst attendees were struggling to gather their gear to head out. I thought the job of law enforcement was to protect and serve the public. Driving around in your quads while trying to bust people doesn't exactly protect and or serve the people.
-Camp site locations: Why weren't there any signs or staff present to warn people that camping in certain areas may result in a river taking your stuff away. This should have been a precaution day one. Not only was it a safety issue but hundreds of dollars worth of items were probably lost for some people.
-MUD CITY: Why did things have to get so bad that the red cross have to come and set up shelter? Why did people have to call tow trucks in to get their cars out? Why wasn't the festival more prepared for what was coming.
Final thoughts: Sunday was a catastrophe. A simple refund isn't going to be good enough for the people who attended. People left their camp sites behind because of how hard it was to leave. Hundreds and for some thousands of dollars worth of things were left behind. MCP, next time get your shit together and please be more prepared if this happens again. xoxo