Lights showered down on hundreds of people filling the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium last Friday, their bodies moving and hands waving to the thumping bass emitted from the stage. On occasion, a colorful LED hula hoop or a person lucky enough to find shoulders to climb on finds their way to the surface of the sea of hands. At its horizon, backlit by colorful pixelated images is the maestro of this energy pulsing through the venue: Porter Robinson.
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The night opens with electronic duo touring from Oslo, Lemaitre, whose vocally driven mix of a little funk and a hint of Indie warms up the crowd. While a follow up by Bay Area native, Giraffage, brings the vibes down, with his low-fi, down-tempo DJ set, playing a number of his originals and handful of remixes, including “Money” and a drop filled rendition of R. Kelly’s “Remix to Ignition.”
But the crowd clearly came for Porter Robinson, filing into the venue as the lights dim, marking the headliner’s set. Lit only by the translusent table at the center of the stage, he presses the key on his midi, filling the room with a light hum, before exploding into “Sad Machine.” The crow dances and sings along to “Lionhearted,” other remixes Robinson plays, and his originals as well, including “Flicker” and “Sea of Voices.”
“This is the first time playing in front of a crowd this big,” Robinson says to the crowd, noting that he has played a number of larger electronic music festivals, but this is the first time he’s gotten to sing in front of his own crowd this large.
