by Raymond Kao
Going to college in the late 2010s and being involved in the gaming community there, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to cover Porter Robinson. I'm not an avid listener by any means, but I had to do it for my friends there and had a great time (while meeting a concert photographer hero of mine!)
Ericdoa opened for the evening, playing some of the most popular songs in his discography like ">one (greater than one)", a song he wrote for the first-person shooter video game, Valorant, and "sad4whattt", which was featured in the second season of the show "Euphoria". I think opening for such a monumental artist like Porter Robinson is a tall task, especially for a burgeoning artist at the young age of 22 - it was difficult to shake the feeling that many of the fans were solely there for Porter. However, ericdoa is not a stranger to touring nor to Atlanta itself, and hopefully, his performance and talent brought him a few extra fans that night.
Porter Robinson did not disappoint his fans that night, dropping a 25-song set full of hits from each of his albums that evening. He showcased his incredible control of multiple instruments, going from guitar to keys, all while maintaining his vocals. His live band (consisting of Rafa Rodriguez, Margot Liotta - who killed it on the vocals, Carrick McCullough, and Wojtek Deregowski) brought that extra "oomph" to the songs - I think it really vindicates Porter's decision to bring them on after experimenting with the live band format since 2022. He brought the appropriate energy for each of his songs, ranging from sober ("Russian Roulette") to jumping with the crowd on "Shelter". Porter also manages to avoid the common weakness of electronic artists just standing behind a computer and connecting with the audience in a way that feels authentic to his development as an artist and a person. It was a cohesive, energetic, and overall amazing experience.
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