At this point it should go without saying that Porter Robinson‘s album Worlds and subsequent tour were seminal benchmarks for dance music in the last decade. Now, since Coachella was supposed to happen over the next two weekends, it feels like the right time to revisit the producer’s monumental performance at the Empire Polo Club from 2015.
Robinson earned a coveted Friday night slot that year, second to close at the Sahara Tent at 10:00 p.m. The North Carolina-native stood perched behind a clear, arched deck is set in the middle of the enormous Sahara stage flanked by a rectangular arrangement of lights, opening his set with the iconic “Sad Machine.” While the crowd bounces to the drum pattern, the entire wall of LED lights up with Robinson’s anime-inspired visuals that will be consistent until the end of the set.
Throughout the next hour, Robinson takes the crowd on a journey of their favorite songs from Worlds, a handful of mind-blowing live edits, throwbacks in his catalog, including “Unison” and “Spitfire,” and the debut of his remix of Nero‘s “The Thrill.” The set gloriously culminated with the ultimate Porter fan-favorite: “Language.” Robinson’s Coachella set may have been the most influential set of his entire career up to that point, coming off the success of his debut album during a peaking moment for dance music in 2015.
Unfortunately, the Coachella livestream cut the final three songs that year, however, there’s no shortage of feels packed into the 47 minutes available.