According to the description posted at the act's website, Bassnectar [ tickets ] is a "freeform project that merges music, art, new media, social involvement and community values." Added to that description should be "and, on Friday, March 20, 2009, at Stubb's BBQ in Austin, TX, was so loud that one music journalist actually feared for the safety of his internal organs."

Lorin Ashton, the man behind Bassnectar, is a musician/producer/DJ who, according to SF Weekly, has "probably the largest cult following of any DJ in San Francisco." On Friday, he was far from home, and had the potentially unenviable job of warming up a crowd that was arriving for one reason and one reason only: to see Metallica.

To his credit, Ashton was successful at generating some excitement among the throng of Metallica diehards who began staking out real estate directly in front of the stage in anticipation of a Metallica set that wouldn't begin for three more hours. He was animated, bobbing and bouncing around behind his DJ rig with his waist-length brown hair whipping about, occasionally picking up a microphone and encouraging the crowd to get busy, and expressing his gratitude when they did so.

Fast-cut imagery flashed across the giant awning that juts out over the stage like a massive ship sail as Ashton skillfully mashed up house beats with surefire, grunge-era, alt-rock pleasers such as Nirvana's "In Bloom" and Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name." He worked the knobs, turntables and computer rig with aplomb, mouthing the words to each song that he was marrying to bass, drums and synthesizers.

But about that bass: it was unmistakable why Ashton chose to include "Bass" in the name of his act, because never in the history of live music has there ever been more of it present in the mix. Imagine one of those "Fast and Furious"-type street-racing cars with the thumping subwoofer pulling up alongside you, and then multiply that sound by a thousand.

No, seriously: the plastic-bag lining of a trash barrel more than 50 feet away from the stage and out of the direct line of fire from the speakers was visibly vibrating throughout the set. Ashton should be thankful that no Austin authorities were on hand to see if he was complying with local noise ordinances--and should also consider the potential loss of business if he permanently deafens his fans.