Last week, viagra 60mg Porter Robinson brought his Worlds tour to Boston and it was majestic. The former EDM superstar assembled a tremendous set which imbued his new synthpop stylings with some of the visual and sonic bombast of a traditional electronic show, check all while maintaining a stunning artistic coherence. The epic, sprawling show proved beyond reasonable doubt Porter’s immense talents and completely validated his excellent change in musical direction.
Opener Girraffage did a good job warming the audience up, sharing his wonderful signature sound while also throwing in some crowd pleasers. The first half of the set was made up almost exclusively of the silky electronica that the San Francisco native has made a name for himself with. Featuring bouncy synths and a driving beat, this was energetic but ethereal music, reminiscent of what Wave Racer is putting out at the moment. Things took a turn halfway through when things started getting considerably trappier. While this was not unexpected given the basis the genre has had in some of his high-hat-heavy recent output, the sheer number of hard drops made it feel like he was playing to the bros in attendance who might not be aware of the headliner’s change of direction.
Before going into this show, it’s important to have some idea of the process that led to Porter’s Worlds album. After years headlining mainstages, releasing hit singles and co-producing with some of the biggest names in EDM (including Zedd on a moderately successful song known as “Clarity”), Porter decided to turn his talents away from basic dance music and try something new. Taking a year off from touring, he went back to his childhood influences, namely video games and anime, to find new inspiration and direction. The resulting album, Worlds, is an indietronica epic, telling self-contained stories of love, war and basic connection. It never shies away from EDM sounds to get the best reaction, but comes together as a cohesive, progressive work that feels very separate from that umbrella genre.
Taking the stage to the cascading sonics of “Sea of Voices,” Porter wasted no time jumping into the standout track of his new album, “Sad Machine.” He immediately exhibited the versatility and breadth of his performance skills, balancing keys, pad work, clip launches and even percussion, all while singing along with the titular robot. As with all of the songs, the arrangement was slightly reworked, running longer and feeling just a bit more epic, even weaving in a bit of his popular house collaboration with Mat Zo “Easy.” This use of sonic motifs, recalling the riffs of some of the most popular tracks, worked throughout the set to establish a sonic continuity while also exciting fans.
Despite his previous insistence on avoiding old material, this wasn’t the last time Porter would fall back on crowd-pleasing classics. Each one was, however, subtly reworked to fit in with the live performance nature of the show. “Easy” soon had a reprisal with Porter playing the iconic melody on keys, while he did considerable pad work for his new take on “Unison.” However, the most crowd-pleasing moment was certainly his encore of “Language.” Featuring bolstered synths and a heavenly new arrangement, this was a wonderful end of the night but for the fact that it slightly lessened the influence of the finale, which we’ll touch on later.
Porter’s willingness to defy audience expectations with startlingly different takes on Worlds tracks was perhaps the most notable part of the set. “Flicker” had a much dirtier synthline under it than the original version, while “Fresh Static Snow” took on some lively techno elements, making one of the weaker album cuts a surprising highlight of the show. “Years of War” went for a disco vibe, making for a truly danceable throwback vibe. Porter’s approach to all these tracks was never safe; while he could have easily played some keys over riffs and clip-launched the rest, he took every chance he could to mix up songs while staying true to their heart. He was constantly moving from virtual instrument to virtual instrument, making for a quiet dynamism that showed the depth of his craft without him having to ham to the audience at all.
The most challenging and rewarding change, however, came from the new approach to “Fellow Feeling.” While the original track was intense, contrasting beautiful Japanese-influenced strings with punishingly grimy breakdowns, the live performance turned the heavier moments into extended glitch-hop digressions, Porter hammering away on drum pads cued to absolutely jarring sounds. Mixed with the hellish visuals on screen, these moments were genuinely terrifying, completely unsettling the audience before the strings came in to provide an odd sense of comfort in comparisson. It was a startling effect placed perfectly in the set to keep emotions high for the finale, the transcendent “Goodbye to a World.” This played out like a tragic farewell that steadily broke apart, bringing the lights down as text on-screen matched the final vocals, tragically uttered over the dying synths. It was a moving moment that tied the whole set together while giving it a cinematic finality you won’t often get in electronic shows. It really was almost a shame that another track followed for the encore. However, these two tracks worked in tandem to really lock in the emotional connection the audience that had been fostered throughout the night.
While Porter’s striking performance skills and sonic ingenuity were the stars of the night, the visuals acted as a perfect companion. Drawing upon video game tropes, such as loading screens and character selection, and integrating original anime scenes, everything on screen complimented the song and even helped flesh out the backstories of some of the tracks. This was clearly a high-budget affair, throwing together stimulating but arty elements to keep a distinct energy that was up there with top name visual crews such as those of Bassnectar and Deadmau5. However, despite the obvious expense nothing ever felt like a cheap hype-up or even extraneous to the overall presentation. Everything here worked magnificently in fleshing out Porter’s wonderful vision. With the call for high-stimulation stage shows at the moment, we can only hope that more artists aspire to the coherence and genuine beauty of Porter’s approach.
This was an exemplary set that validated Porter’s place as one of the pre-eminent talents in electronica at the moment. A spectacular fusion of light and sound, the audience was taken on a genuine emotional journey while also getting enough danceable melodies to keep things fun. While many of the EDM fans in attendance may have been disappointed at the lack of bigroom bangers, this approach to performance was both awe-inspiring and accessible, sure to earn him a very different but truly loyal fanbase over the coming years.
Photos by Chandler Philpott