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On Friday, La Zona Rosa became a portal to The Other Side, serving up three beat-heavy acts that went bump long into the night. Oakland-based Beats Antique and local experimental loungers Govinda set the stage for an intensely tripped-out journey in sight and sound. San Francisco DJ Lorin Ashton, a.k.a. Bassnectar, later exploded on stage to a roaring crowd of raised hands and enthusiastic, bass-hungry head nods. Bobbing between two laptops, Ashton orchestrated his brand of non-stop musical magic before three giant projector screens. Imaginatively-synced visuals by Videolicious took us even further down the rabbit hole with images jumping from baboons to Godzilla, to contortionists and sumo wrestlers. These were but few of the wildly-suited eye candies to Ashton’s genre-flipping sounds.

Speaking through curtains of dark, caveman-like hair, Ashton told the cheering crowd it was the biggest he’d ever seen in Austin. And no doubt the word has spread, because La Zona Rosa was a full-house of hardcore hipsters, tie-dyed hippies and passionate post-ravers. Bassnectar’s freestyle electronic music appeals to a wide audience with not only heavy basslines and breakbeats, but hypnotic sci-fi atmospherics and insanely awesome remixes of popular songs. Tonight’s show was no exception. Bassnectar consistently brought more shake to his stage combo, stirring up increasingly krunk dancing and crowd surfing: M.I.A., Dr. Dre, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine all made a sweet aural appearance in the set. All the while, swirling imagery, sultry smoke and swooshing lights gave a little beauty to the bump. Visual snippets from cult films like The Fifth Element and American Beauty were answered by crowd cheers, adding more excitement to what was an intense multi-media experience in AAAAHHH YEAHHH (cue rhythmic up/down hand motions). Bassnectar proved he is the life force of thump on Friday, and we’ll likely still be vibrating next time he comes through town. Until then, plug in your good computer speakers, because there are some sweet tracks on his MySpace page, including a STS9 remix. His latest release Underground Communication is “another full length sonic adventure through multidirectional forms and genres”. Check this out and more at Bassnectar.net. (((~Womp~Womp~Womp~)))