Porter Robinson & Madeon Hit Electric Factory Right In The Feels: 'Shelter' Tour Review

All we (and the rest of the world) have been raving about for months and months was the massive collaboration of two of the most godly producers in the scene. Naturally, we're talking about Porter Robinson and Madeon- their hit single 'Shelter' and b2b tour that has been sweeping the states.

I had the pleasure of being able to attend the boys' stop in Philly this past weekend, and was secretly taking enjoyment out of all of my friends gushing over my snapchats from the show. I mean hey, it's not every day that Porteon go on tour together, and almost every single show on this tour has been sold-out, so it was a pretty big deal. This was a show that I have been revolving my entire season around, and labeled it as my number one pick for our selects for the 8 Most Anticipated Fall Tours of 2016- and it's safe to say that I picked it was #1 with good reason.

The pre-show butterflies and realization that "holy shit, I'm about to see Porter and Madeon" finally sunk in once I pulled up to the venue and saw the signature Electric Factory graphic of good ol' Benjamin Franklin in his specs plastered along the grungy factory/warehouse aesthetic that is Electric Factory.

I headed in just in time to catch Robotaki closing up his set and hyping up the crowd for the main acts, same way he has been successfully doing for the rest of the tour so far. After Robotaki got the crowd going, an artist that I had no previous knowledge of graced the decks and left me completely stunned. It is very rare for an artist to achieve a stage presence that can completely captivate a crowd, but Danger was able to do it.

-Photo Credit: Steph Kazhiloti-

You almost would not have been able to see him at all, due to his all black attire head-to-toe, if it weren't for the bright lights piercing through his mask in place of where his eyes should be. Danger's been around for quite some time, but just hasn't played a show in a while; I was so pleasantly surprised with his set because not only did I not too much about him, I had no idea he would be this good. Setting a dark undertone for the entire night, Danger is like the lovechild of Justice, Gesaffelstein and Kavinsky and formulates a genre of his very own.

As Danger brings his set to a close, the audience waits patiently and anxiously for Porteon to take the stage and give them the shelter that they've been craving for months. Finally, the lights dim from the warm standstill blue-ish tone to pitch black as the boys walk on stage and approach their stations- and I see tears form in the eyes of the audience as the opening, unmistakable melody of their collab 'Shelter' begins to play. From then on, the rest of the night was one for the books. 

-Photo Credit: Steph Kazhiloti-

Heartstrings were pulled, tears were shed and bodies were covered in chills as Porter and Madeon infused their signature tracks together as one. I never thought it would be humanly possible for two separate artists that had their own entirely different, well-established sounds to mesh together so perfectly. It's as if their tracks were made for them to be fused with one another, and their songs were like separate pieces of a puzzle that fit together perfectly- forming one beautiful picture that is entire the Shelter tour.

-Photo Credit: Steph Kazhiloti-

Porter sang the lyrics for Madeon songs and Madeon sang the lyrics for Porter songs, which was executed perfectly. Colorful, glitchy graphics and lasers visually stimulated the crowd in perfect harmony with the tracks, and were the perfect blend of both artist's aesthetic. But one moment that was truly unforgettable and gives me goosebumps as I write this was the duo dropping the Porter classic 'Sad Machine' as "I'll depend on you" flashes on the screen...and instead of the 'Sad Machine' drop, Madeon's 'You're On' drops instead. And there was this blissful feeling of uplifting euphoria that washed over the entire crowd and put smiles on everyone's face.

-Photo Credit: Steph Kazhiloti-

This entire 'Shelter' tour, the track and the entire brand is one for the books- and one that has made its mark forever in dance music history.

-Photo Credit: Steph Kazhiloti-