Bassnectar Tops The List Of The Best

The Setlist

By Brian Washburn

November has come and gone, and so has the epic month of concerts presented at George’s Majestic Lounge, or as I like to call it, the “Funk Fayetteville Electronica Extravaganza month.” And the month filled with raving, dancing and all things Fayetteville music scene could not have ended on a higher note (or, er, beat) with San Francisco DJ, electronica-technician and all things beat-related mastermind Lorin Ashton, better known as Bassnectar to those around the music nation.

The long-haired, Cali DJ put on the best live performance out of all of the major electronica and dance-techno shows in November. Ashton blended rap and hip-hop beats with remixes and created a nonstop party mix tape that had the entire building jumping for nearly two hours.

While other acts of similar genres get rather monotonous and redundant after about an hour of nonstop dancing and noise, Ashton’s beats, demeanor and general flow elicited nothing but a good time throughout the duration of the performance.

As opposed to Pretty Lights, which focused more on the electronic and dance portion of the music, Bassnectar fit more into the rap and hip-hop category, but without the rhymes and massive amounts of cussing. Aston went through several of his original tunes found on the numerous releases he seems to puts out every year. He also performed many remixes and mashes that got the crowd going even harder than it had been going before.

However, even though the music flowed flawlessly and did not suffer from repeat syndrome (you know, you feel like you’re listening to the same song on repeat over and over and over, OK you get the point), it still does not feature the depth of the demeanor concert-goers would find in a rock show or at a true rap or hip-hop concert. The lack of lyrics became obvious, even though Ashton kept the energy up and the audience’s attention more than any other techno/electronica/hip-hop I have witnessed.

But just like a “traditional” rock concert, Bassnectar and the other November shows at George’s packed the house from front to back and even had lines wrapping around the building.

While this is a phenomenal sign for the Fayetteville music scene (and for George’s in particular), it does get extremely crowded toward the front of the stage and even the most intense, entertaining and straight-up fun shows can get a bit uncomfortable when people are jumping on your back and spilling beer on your shirt every five minutes. But even after clearing the air on that note, Bassnectar was totally worth it.

November might be over and the “Funky Fayetteville Electronica Extravaganza” has rolled through NWA, but the music will not be stopping any time soon. The electronics will be back soon enough. The beats will be back soon enough. The dancing will be back soon enough. And the raving will be back soon enough. It’s just the fact that it all can’t come soon enough for many who witnessed the November magic at George’s.