Lobe x Basscoast Festival

In July of 2023 our team set up a geodesic dome outfitted with Lobe’s mobile 4DSOUND system at the 15th annual Bass Coast Festival in Merritt, BC. 

The program featured artists that play key roles in Vancouver’s spatial sound community as well as artists from our extended network who create ambient, expansive and somewhat trippy spatial compositions. 

Our team ran the program intermittently, day and night, in relation to the festival’s programming. Folks would stop by on their way to and from other events to lay out and listen to what was playing. Some folks spent a great deal of time there stretching, winding down, or being slow with their friends. Within the open archways of the dome sound moved around them in all directions. They were able to look out at the light projections on the hills, the shape of the dunes, the stars in the sky, or inward - with their eyes closed. 

We learned something about the restorative nature of spatial sound through this project – not only from the impact of the artists’ work that we were honoured to present, but also from the way immersive listening and the indirect attention it invites recuperated audiences from the directional, high impact, performer-oriented events going on at the 5 other stages. 

It was a true thrill for Lobe to be able to contribute spatial sound to Bass Coast 2023 and would not have been possible without the generosity and enthusiasm of our team and artists. A special thanks to Alex Penney, Dave Biddel, Maya Beaudry, Andy and Fé Navilli, Dani Griffiths, Vanessa Lefan, among other folks who helped shape this experience.