After a 10 year absence, Explosions in the Sky made their triumphant returned to Basilica Hudson on Friday, January 30, delivering an otherworldly performance that balanced both beauty and bludgeoning with surgical precision. Joined by local support from Kingston’s Open Head, the evening unfolded as a unique sonic experience that pushed the boundaries of atmosphere, endurance, and emotional release. It may have been one of the coldest nights of the year, but longtime fans weren’t about to let winter stand in the way of witnessing one of the most admired and imitated bands in the post-rock genre.
Basilica Hudson itself remains one of the most compelling venues in the region, both historically and architecturally. Housed in a sprawling, solar-powered factory dating back to the 1880s, it was once a forge and foundry producing railway wheels, later a knitting mill and eventually a glue factory through the 1980s. Now reborn as a multidisciplinary arts center, its cavernous, spaceship-like interior offers a striking backdrop perfectly suited for immersive performances, particularly one as cinematically engaging as Explosions in the Sky.
But before there were Explosions, there was Kingston’s Open Head. Comprised of Brandon Minervini, Jon McCarthy, Jared Ashdown, and Dan Schwartz, the experimental four-piece have become a staple of the Hudson Valley music scene in recent years. Taking the dimly lit stage to little fanfare, the band launched into a sprawling sonic assault that immediately caught much of the audience off guard. Drawing from no-wave, avant-garde punk, noise, and electronic music, Open Head’s sound stood in sharp contrast to the headliner’s meticulous, slow-burn compositions. Their set was disjointed, intense, and unapologetic, oscillating between distorted spoken-word passages and bursts of pure punk fury. Featuring mostly material from their 2025 album What Is Success, the band steadily won over a substantial portion of the crowd by the end of their set, an impressive feat and a hot start to an incredibly cold night. After a brief intermission, anticipation in the room was palpable as a dense fog consumed the old factory warehouse.
Formed in Austin, Texas in 1999, Explosions in the Sky have spent more than two decades refining a sound that helped define modern post-rock. Built largely around instrumental compositions, the band is known for its slow-building dynamics, layered guitar interplay, and emotional crescendos that feel both intimate and monumental. Drawing influence from ambient music, minimalist composers, and the DIY ethos of punk, over the years, their music has become synonymous with emotional resonance, earning them critical acclaim, a devoted global following, and numerous film and television scoring projects.
Despite making their way back to Basilica Hudson for the first time since headlining the Basilica Soundscape Festival in September 2016, this particular performance felt more like a continuation of a journey that had begun only 9 months earlier in Kingston. Having played the nearby Ulster Performing Arts Center in April as part of The End tour, fans were more than happy to hear many of the same songs again. Relieved, even, to see the band wasn’t actually calling it quits just yet. As a thick wall of fog filled the stage, the band emerged as silhouettes, barely visible against the brick backdrop. The anonymity only heightened the mystique as Mark Smith, Michael James, Munaf Rayani, Chris Hrasky, and Jay Demko took their positions with the clear intention of transporting the audience somewhere else entirely.
Captivating the standing-room-only crowd with the delicate sound of thunder echoing through the old warehouse, Basilica Hudson proved to be the perfect vessel for launch. The journey began with “First Breath After Coma,” the opening track from their 2003 masterpiece The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place. From the outset, it was clear that words would not be necessary. Explosions in the Sky communicated everything through sound alone. Next came “Catastrophe and the Cure,” a standout from 2007’s All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone. With signature layered guitars, dynamic percussion, and arrangements that rose and fell like ocean waves, the band achieved full lift-off before dissolving effortlessly into a whispering calm. The effect was surreal and life-affirming, pulling the audience into a dreamlike state you hoped would last forever.
A delicate rendition of “Loved Ones” followed before the band surged back with a powerful take on “The Birth and Death of the Day.” Bathed in shadow, faces barely visible, the musicians swayed and surged with the music. Visibility hardly mattered so long as the room remained quiet, the sound carried perfectly. With the audience’s complete attention, each song felt like a shared experience, shimmering guitars swelling into walls of distortion, the band’s interplay so tight it bordered on telepathic.
For “Magic Hours,” one of the oldest songs in the bands catalogue, Michael James switched out his bass guitar, and much of the band spent extended moments crouched over a bevy of effects pedals, dialing in tones and layering textures. The result was so lush and cinematic it nearly brought the room to tears. Following it with what is easily their most recognizable number, “Your Hand in Mine,” proved to be the emotional high point of the night. The crescendos peaked with cathartic release before dissolving into delicate fragments, hitting the sweet spot and performed to perfection. For the uninitiated, this remains the essential entry point into Explosions in the Sky’s world. After a gentle transition into “The Fight” from 2023’s End, “The Only Moment We Were Alone” brought the life-affirming journey to a close.
As fans lingered afterward, lining up to grab merch and reluctant to step back into the freezing night, it was clear Explosions in the Sky had delivered something rare. With each track pulsing with raw emotion, some mournful and others euphoric, the band reminded everyone why they remain a bucket-list act for so many, pioneers of their craft, and a group worth traveling far and wide to see again and again.
Explosions in the Sky | January 30, 2026 | Basilica Hudson | Hudson, NY
Setlist: First Breath After Coma, Catastrophe and the Cure, Loved Ones, The Birth and Death of the Day, Russian Sailors, Magic Hours, Your Hand in Mine, The Fight, The Only Moment We Were Alone.
Open Head | January 30, 2026 | Basilica Hudson | Hudson, NY
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