Porter Robinson tag teamed with Madeon last week to sell out the cavernous sized Fillmore Auditorium. C=T contributor Ally Miller took in all the bright lights and pulsating beats from the sweaty venue.
When “Shelter” made its debut in August, Porter Robinson and Madeon fans all over the world were given a wonderful taste of the magic of collaboration between the two artists. The song, which peaked at number 16 on Billboard’s dance/electronic charts, pulls together the strengths of the two artists – gradual building melodies, upbeat synths and chopped up vocals – into one feel-good song that will sure to make you sing along and dance.
It got even better when the duo announced they would be kicking off a joint tour and sharing the stage “for a collaborative live performance that combines the best of their individual catalogs into one interactive performance fusing emotion, live instrumentation, visual artistry and cutting edge technology.” Boy, did they not disappoint!
Throughout the two minute intro, you could sense the anticipation of the crowd build, turning into screams of excitement as they took the stage through a blue haze and immediately dropped into “Shelter” with Madeon singing live. The 75-minute set showcased familiar Porter and Madeon songs from “Adventure” and “Worlds”, mixed together with samplings of each other’s songs. Their style mixed beautifully together.
One thing I noticed was missing was an overabundance of visuals and almost story-like images on the screens behind them usually seen at their shows. However, Porter explained this in an interview given to Tommy West of SiriusXM’s #bpm, “In this show we wanted us to be the characters, were showing landscapes in the background but me and Hugo [Madeon] standing on stage, that’s the show.” Madeon continued, “Our silhouette is what drives it and the way we interact with each other.” I’d have to agree, a lot of the fun was watching these two on stage together through foggy shades of purples, blues, and reds that made them into the silhouettes Madeon spoke of. Their energy was contagious throughout the crowd and everyone was on their feet dancing, including security!
And just when everyone thought the show was over, Porter and Madeon came back onstage, this time with Madeon on vocals and Porter with just his keyboard. They closed the show out with a slowed down acoustic version of “Shelter” that had the whole auditorium singing along together.
If you missed out on one of their 44 stops on their tour, you might just be out of luck. In the same interview given to Tommy West, “I think what makes it special is that we’re going to go back to our solo projects. We know this is a transient moment, and that we’re taking it all in and enjoying it immensely, but we know that once this is it, it’s it.” There’s only a couple more stops left but you may have to whip out your passport to make some of them. But it’s worth it to see these two in action!
