Porter Robinson | Madeon: Shelter Tour Review

By Gabriela Mancuso & Erin Jean Hussey:

The Boston leg of Porter Robinson and Madeon’s Shelter tour at the Orpheum Theater could be characterized as otherworldly.  Robinson differentiated himself in the electronic dance community in 2014 with his melodic and wistfully beautiful sounds on Worlds. Hugo Pierre, known by his stage name Madeon, released his debut album, Adventure, in March 2015.  Earlier in 2016, the two released the luscious collaborative track, “Shelter”, finding the inspiration for their joint tour.

With a stage set for two, Porter Robinson and Madeon respectively provided a unique performance, perfectly pairing spins on each other’s hits from Worlds and Adventure.  The set opened with a snippet of the duo’s collaborative song “Shelter”, and visuals that quite literally brought the audience onto their feet, out of the theater and into a vast other world.  Couples and college students danced away their Tuesday evening at The Orpheum, a universe away from the rainy Boston evening outside.

The two took turns performing songs off their albums, each time exciting the audience with the welcoming first few beats of a familiar song, and then shocking them with a collaborative remix.  From Madeon’s lead single “You’re On” to Porter’s “Sad Machine”, or his fan favorite hit Divinity.  

The two collaborators vibed off each other’s energies throughout the entire show, especially when Porter proclaimed “This is one of my favorite songs,” as he introduced Madeon’s “Technicolor”, and proceeded to sing the vocals himself. The crowd was captivated chemistry the duo created on stage.  Porter’s vocals over Madeon’s masterful, glittering synths echoed harmonies in all the right places.  The show closed with Porter Robinson’s “Goodbye to a World” backed by orange and cotton candy hues, and popping confetti. The audience soaked up the sweetest last tastes of the vast world The Shelter Tour brought them into. Not only screaming for an encore, but resisting to let the ephemeral moment that was the evening pass.