One of the biggest reasons to be excited about American EDM is its youth. The amount of 20-year old stars is staggering, and they just keep getting better. I had the wonderful privilege of seeing one of the greatest new producers, Porter Robinson, in action last night at the Hollywood Palladium. It was an incredible show, and I’m excited to see what the future brings for PR.
Penguin Prison was chosen to kick things off with a DJ set. I easily made my way up to the front and started grooving to some solid disco-house. Looking around, I realized that very few people were dancing, but I figured that it was still early and to be expected. PP played a pretty solid set, and the crowd even started moving a bit when he dropped Oliver’s ‘Dirty Talk’ and ‘MYB,’ which I’d been dying to hear on a system. However, after those two songs, the energy definitely dropped, and the set cruised to a close at about 11:20.
It was now time for Seven Lions. This artist out of Santa Barbara is able to skillfully blend multiple genres in both his production and live shows, and the crowd loved it. Starting with dubstep and building through hard electro and house, he played a very well-thought out set. Highlights included his remix of Florence and the Machines ‘Cosmic Love,’ and theNoisia remix of ‘Smack My Bitch Up. Again, I noticed that the crowd was, for the most part, immobile. There was a strong ‘date night’ component, and a large number of people bringing drinks out to the floor and standing still. I really couldn’t understand what was going on. Didn’t these people pay for a show? Crowd issues aside, Seven Lions did his job, building the energy until Porter Robinson took the stage at 12:40.
The greatest EDM acts are able to bring the best of a concert and meld it with the best of a party. Porter Robinson did just that. From the moment he stepped on stage, the energy completely changed, and the soaring notes of a violin took the show to the next level. Then came the first drop. Easily one of the most ridiculous shows I’ve been to. His pacing was impeccable: Ten to fifteen minutes of rising energy, followed by a brief plateau to let the crowd catch its breath. Then, back to the build. Seamless transitions, perfect track selection, amazing light show, everything you’d want from any artist. He got things going with a ‘Midnight City’ remix, played every original from ‘Unison’ to ’100% In The Bitch,’ and kept building energy for the entire 2 hours. Porter even played some trap. Ridiculous in every way. Closing with ‘Language’ while confetti streamed down, he cemented his place as the king of electro.
Porter’s set ended at 2:40, and he was followed by The Ref, who closed off the night with some deep house. It was exactly what I wanted to hear until 4 AM, and so refreshing to hear in the States, where the genre has yet to take off. Equally refreshing was the sight of people actually dancing, now that most of the crowd had gone home. Every couple of minutes, I saw people exchanging kandi, sharing water, and generally grooving, which for some reason is hard to come by these days. It’s a bit strange. On one side, I want more people to discover the magic of shows, but now it seems that there’s always a significant contingent of people who go only because they think that ‘raves’ are cool. And not that there’s anything wrong with that, but at least don’t shove your way to the front if you’re not going to get the fuck down. Basically, the guy creating art, sharing it with people, and playing an incredible set deserves to see people dancing. Realizing I’m probably preaching to the crowd, and who am I to say anything, but this not dancing thing is becoming an issue. Especially when you have shows selling out in days, or hours (Coachella in 15 minutes), and the people buying up tickets don’t even listen to the music. Better to have ravers pluring up molly than drunk guys using EDM as an excuse to freakdance and fight.
Back to the show: Wow. Disco-house to dub to Porter Robinson ridiculousness to deep house. This was an extremely well-planned event, definitely way beyond your typical show. The Circle Assembly Tour finishes up in Toronto and New York next week, if you’re in the area go. I cannot imagine how good Porter Robinson will be in 5 years, but I do know where he’ll be: At the top, blowing people’s minds. If you want a taste of where he’s at now, check out the video below.
http://circleassembly.wantickets.com/
I am a freshman Philosophy student at UCSB. More importantly, I've been into EDM for a few years, and want to see as many shows as possible.
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I started this website in 2009 as a means of sharing my EDM findings with my friends. Since then, the website has experienced an explosion in growth that I never once imagined. This excitement and growth inspires me to make ElectroJams the #1 source for new electronic music. 
Been in Florida my whole life nurturing a love for all beats that break. Never released a track, but I've been producing for nearly 15 years and playing out as a DJ for at least 8. I ran Floridub.com on the side (until godaddy stole it form me) and also write for NuSkoolBreaks.co.uk as well as FloridaBreaks.org and Breaksculture.com. You can catch me mixing on the award-winning NSB Radio station every Tuesday night 8-10pm (EST). Add Royce Crowellon 
