Severing Ego at Judson Church

(All photos by Christopher Bruno)

Psychedelic Sangha’s Blotter Bath event last Friday night was a spectacle for the mind, body and soul that all in attendance won’t soon forget. While slightly smaller than the recent Bardo Baths that I’ve covered here before, this was a more intimate gathering, with a deeper, heavier focus.

In the confines of Manhattan’s historic Judson Church, I set up camp with a small, but mighty crew of curious seekers in a far corner under the second story balcony. We arrived slightly late, and missed some of the opening guided meditation and the signing of Blotter: The Untold Story of An Acid Medium by Dr. Erik Davis, but the buttery, bell-like tones of Chris Dingman’s vibraphone set the relaxing tone for us.

For the next several hours, Garcia Peoples, Kendraplex and Earthless’ Isaiah Mitchell, and Jesse Jarnow steered the church into cosmic seas of sprawling dronescapes, ego death guitar jams and interstellar rock freak outs. Much like last summer’s Bardo Bath, each set bled and flowed seamlessly into one another, often with many of the artists collaborating together from different vantage points scattered across the cavernous church.

Garcia Peoples (with Charles Goold filling in on drums)

Dingman was set up along the left wall while Garcia Peoples were situated in front of the audience with Mitchell sitting cross legged at the altar behind them. Meanwhile, Kendraplex controlled synths, hand percussion, reverb-drenched harmonica and other sounds from the loft above us. Jarnow manipulated the music live from his own control station on the ground at the back, while mixing in various samples and sound effects (while also playing Environments LPs from an old Califone turntable that was hooked up to the house’s sound system).

Light artists, Bubba Ayoub, Aubrey Nehring, Yosuh Jones, and Arik Moonhawk Roper splashed the walls and ceiling with living colors, mystical imagery and classic blotter art, casting the perfect visual equivalent and accompaniment for the sounds we were bathed in. These Psychedelic Sangha events always have breathtaking light shows, but this one really took the dosed cake. Nearly every inch of space seemed to be crawling and oozing with living colors and squirmy patterns.

The vibe in the room shifted from being deeply contemplative and sedated to discordant, and then finally celebratory. Mitchell led a sonic ritual that was inspired by the Tibetan Buddhist practice of Chöd, of which is intended to help one willingly accept the unappealing and unpleasant and to let go of the demons of anger, arrogance, fear and jealousy in order to reach wisdom.

The Earthless guitarist guided us through the darkest parts of our minds and souls, and with the flames of his distorted solos, assisted in a great severance from these hindrances of ego. As Garcia Peoples joined into the auditory fray, the music became more revelatory, transcendent and even victorious. I happened to capture the transition into this utterly beautiful peak of the jam on camera while I was in the loft just as Kendraplex, all clad in shadow, eased some echoing harmonica and hand shakers into the mix:

It genuinely felt as though the room had come through the other side of some sort of great, internal storm….

Whatever anxieties might have plagued us going into the evening surely retreated, as the floor was full of smiles, hugging bodies and blissed-out dancing. It was time to party.

A full-on interstellar boogie raved up and concluded the evening, as everyone appeared to wake from their meditative states and emerged lighter and more comfortable. A sense of unity and kinship swept through the church, and we were all ready to take a little bit of the warmth of the Blotter Bath back home with us to give to our own little communities. Thank you, Psychedelic Sangha.