**Check out the full PHOTO ALBUM so you can tag yourself in the pictures | Photo credit to the always-talented Ryan Wiklund**
Bassnecter in Burlington VT is never taken lightly, and this year it was absolutely no exception. Every year Lorin Ashton seems to be able to make it up to Burlington Vermont, and our long standing patronage to the basshead himself has kept him loyal to us even with the expanse of his lustrous career. Within days of the box office opening up his ticket sales, they are depleted; some say they are worth their weight in gold. With around 50k people living in an area the size of about half a NYC block, and the biggest venue in the area able to only hold around 3000 people, there is a high demand and a very short supply for the chance to see one of EDMs biggest names.
Continue reading to see what we thought of the event, and to check out photos from the event.
My love affair with Bassnectar began when I ignorantly stumbled into a record store in upstate New York after hearing a few Boys Noize tracks, and wanted to see what else this “Techno” (I obviously have more knowledge of genre classifications now) had in store for me. I browsed the “Electronic” section, which was about 2 shelves, and picked up a Boys Noize album, a record by Soulwax and something else caught my eye, a fancy design on the cover of an album called “Underground Communication”. To be honest all three blew my mind, and are still in the 6 disc CD changer in my mom’s car. The Bassnectar album was nothing like I had ever heard of, growing up listening to punk and trying to rebel against my over privileged suburban upbringing, which ironically now more than ever I am so thankful for. It was so different I remember playing off some tracks to a friend and asking “Do you like this? Or am I just weird?”, we came to an agreement it was awesome. Little did I know I had stumbled on to something that would introduce me into entire new concepts of music I may have never found out until later.
This catalyst into dubstep, or at least American dubstep, was very similar to many of my friends. And a lot of us are very loyal and very passionate about the people who brought us into the world we all celebrate, I think that statement is shared with a lot of people who are interested in Bassnectar, wether it is a recent discovery or something long standing,this was very evident at the show. It is almost impossible to ignore how successful he has been on a marketing standpoint, there were just loads and loads of people rocking his tour shirts, or just stand alone merchandise, its almost like we are all on one team and everyone is a friend, just excited to be there.
The show had such a festival feeling to it, even though the head liner started at 9:30 and finished around 11ish people went all out in full head to toe rave gear, and it wasn’t just a few people either. Sometimes the headliner really can influence peoples mentality coming into the show, some more aggressive music produces, bring more aggressive attitudes, but the feeling in the crowd when Mr.Ashton gets on is that of family, everyone was kind, saying excuse me and gently padding one another on the back when moving through the crowd. Even the crowd itself was loose, people gave each other ample space to move around and dance, as opposed to cramming as tightly as possible and pushing to get just THAT much closer to the front stage. It was an overall comfortable experience that really has been consistent with all of his shows.
As is tradition Bassnectar played to the audience, adding a lot of what we call “trap” elements into his set, but he really transcended a multitude of genres, and almost like a roller coaster, he would bring the tempo up to something really energetic, then smooth it out into one of his more relaxing tunes and repeat. I really thought it was more of a tailored set to our community, more relaxed and less crazy than some of the other times I have seen him in various places, for example there was no crazy remixes of old metal songs and just a few songs with some d-n-b but overall the whole show was fantastic.
Having basically an entire army of bassheads zooming all around the production was flawless. The light set up was something on the level that he deserves to have, and working with his press and management was a breeze. It is safe to say that this guy certainly is all about proper execution of his events, and really gives everything he can to make all your ticket money worth it. I give the show an A+.
Also show Bassnectar some love and follow him along on his tour at his social media outlets right here.
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