Live Review: Bassnectar at Civic Auditorium
The earth-rattling beats that started with sound check Saturday afternoon were from none other than Lorin Ashton, aka Bassnectar, at his massive Bass Center III show at the Civic Auditorium
This was the Bassnectar camp’s third Bass Center following successful sold-out shows in Colorado and Asheville, NC. Bass Center implies everything about that particular show will be bigger in terms of venue, production (lights, sound), and also opening support. This was apparent when the Vau de Vire Society’s circus themed drumline marched directly through the crowd right before Ashton took the stage.
Ashton opened with a Matrix intro into a remix of Zeppelin’s “D’yer Maker,” which had the crowd moving immediately. Throughout the night he weaved in remixes from artists of varying genres and popularity including womped and wombbled versions of “Seek and Destroy” and his official remix of Ellie Goulding’s “Lights.”
Saturday was in some ways a homecoming show for the 33-year-old DJ from Santa Cruz who has gained global recognition as “King of the Bass Heads.” He has stated in interviews that bass music knows no boundaries or culture—something heard in his music and also seen throughout his crowd. Saturday night there was no “standard” fan. Yes, there were your typical batch of festival hippies and rave kids all likely in the 18-25 category. But there were also some 40-50ish looking folks dancing in the back grooving out just the same.
It’s a little easy to coin Bassnectar’s music simply as “dubstep,” but during a Bassnectar set you’re likely to hear some hip-hop, drum and bass, and you may even hear him sample The B-52s “Love Shack” as he did Saturday night. That’s the thing about Bassnectar—you may not know what genre or artist he is mixing but behind that wave of bass pounding from the speakers vibrating everything within reach, sometimes knowing something is loud is good enough.
Ashton played a relentless set lasting around two and a half hours. Some of the highlights included his remix of Gorgol Bordello’s “Immigraniada” and his own “Wildstyle Method” followed by his crowd-pleasing staple “Bass Head.”
Ending around midnight, the crowd spilled onto the Civic Center plaza creating a cloud of cigarette and marijuana smoke amongst a sea of neon colored attendees searching for friends in the masses.
Bassnectar is swiftly becoming one of the most talked about acts in EDM. Between his sold out shows and festival headlining slots he is proving his point that bass/dubstep is not culturally bound to any one group and is slowly solidifying itself as one of the most talked about genres in electronic music.
See photos from the show HERE.
