Bassrush

With the beginnings of a massive heat wave moving into the region, the second night in the bassPOD was definitely a scorcher right from the start (we’ll get more into that later). Bad boy Bassrush resident Fallen quickly got the proceedings started with a sizzling tech-driven rinseout that set the stage for the epic drum & bass back-to-back between Loadstar and Frankee. The shifting tension of dark basslines and cinematic breakdowns had the totems shaking and the dancefloor quaking as the pod began to reach its full capacity.

With a nearly full moon beginning to rise up and cast an eerie glow over the Speedway, TrollPhace and p0gman had the heads howling at the moon as they straight up crushed it with a screeching hooks and earth-shattering basslines. While some back-to-back sessions feel like a battle for supremacy of one personality over the other, Trollphace and p0gman seemed to melt into one and the chemistry was electric.

It was a tough act to follow but Habstrakt kept the necks snapping by swarming some of that growling French-step on them that twisted and turned through a diverse range of BPMs and rhythms. By the time he handed the controls over to NGHTMRE, the bassPOD was a sea of heaving bodies that were quickly whipped into a frenzy by the producer’s dark grooves and chest-thumping beats. Drop after drop of familiar hits and fresh cuts had the crowd singing along and headbanging it out at the same time.

If you thought Caspa and Rusko were going to let the heads take a breather, think again. The wub-wub masters were in top form as their signature sound and boundary-pushing vibes brought the crowd to a full boil. Crowd favorites and new-school grooves like “Cheese” were expertly weaved into a breathtaking narrative that only legends like Caspa and Rusko can do.

Speaking of legends, once Excision stepped on stage it was like a god of war had descended from the heavens. The crowd instantly braced for the relentless punishment that X was more than happy to deliver. Bass bombs and synapse-twisting leads had necks snapping, elbows trapping, and feet stomping.

Speaking of which, once Andy C and Armanni Reign stepped up on deck to deliver their own brand of drum & bass fire, one of the bassPOD flame-spitting props literally went full-auto and began spewing flames into the sky like an apocalyptic robot gone rogue. The pod was quickly shut down and secured as the flames were put out and the bassPOD looked like something out of a futuristic battlefield that had been abandoned. Lost basshead souls waited patiently in the shadows for the all-clear and once the bassPOD reopened for business, they came swarming to the stage as Andy C stepped up and wasted no time bringing the crowd to a boil once again.

With the shutdown forcing all of the remaining slots to be shortened, it seemed to bring out the best in each performer as Crizzly hit ‘em with some of that spicy Texas filth and Eptic going back to back with Must Die! proved to be the perfect aggro end to a night where all the battle-hardened bassheads stayed true to the game until the sun was blazing once again in the sky and night two was in the books.

The second night is the one that always separates the true heads from those who just want a taste of that bass, and it was more than obvious that the bassPOD retained its crown as having the most ruff and rugged fam that no amount of molten debris raining from the sky can deter. With the temp rising even more tonight, make sure you and the squad rest up, hydrate, and prepare for more apocalyptic mayhem tonight!