The PICA (Port Melbourne Industrial Centre for Arts) was packed to the brim for Grammy-nominated artist Porter Robinson, with fans braving the heat on the 34-degree day in Melbourne’s South West to catch the only Melbourne show of the tour.
Touring his third album, Smile! 
which was released in July last year, Porter Robinson’s Smile! World Tour was promoted as a “career spanning set-list” of his three albums; Worlds (2014), Nurture (2021), and Smile! (2024). A perfect blend of his evolved sound amongst the music fans already know and love.
To kick off the night, Aussie-born Ninajirachi (Nina Wilson) opened up for an excited and receptive crowd. Playing tracks “Ninacamina” and “girl EDM” as well as fun and unexpected remixes of Justin Bieber’s “Beauty and the Beat”, and “Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves)” by The Wombats, the concert-goers were up on their feet, dancing and singing along for the short but highly energetic 40-minute set. And that was only the start of the night as fans patiently waited for the main event.
The anticipation was quickly over after Porter Robinson came on stage a little after 8:30 pm, and opened with “Knock Yourself Out XD” to kick off the Smile! portion of the show. He and his band played almost the entire album, with fan favourites “Perfect Pinterest Garden” and “Kitsune Maison Freestyle” hyping up the crowd. The stage featured bright pink visuals, lights, and animated graphics that perfectly matched the tone of Smile! :D. Three massive inflatable balls featuring the album artwork were also floating around the crowd during “Mona Lisa”, which made for an entertaining watch as fans tried to jump and interact with the balls.
The crowd was loving the set, with the cheering almost as loud as the music, particularly when Porter said that Melbourne is the “greatest city on planet Earth, what the fuck,” with the “coolest crowd.” One of the first of many genuinely great interactions with the crowd that night.
Before closing off this section with “Russian Roulette”, Porter noted the viral video of MGMT playing to a crowd at a college in 2003, and referenced it as his “favourite video on the internet ever” (truly a great video that you can watch HERE). Wanting to relive that same kind of moment, Porter requested everyone to put their phones down and “LARP like it’s 2003”, surprising the crowd with a flawless cover of MGMT’s “Kids”.
Transitioning into the previous album, Nurture, Porter Robinson dialled back the tempo into a slower set of songs. With songs like “Wind Tempos”, “Something Comforting”, and “Look at the Sky”, fans are eased into the more light yet impactful electronic sound that Porter Robinson has fostered. That being said, the slower pace gives Porter more room to interact with fans, playfully attempting Australian accents, speaking about his foray into “Fortress”, reminiscing on the other tours he’s played over the years in Australia, and in his own words “ranting about (the game) League of Legends for 5 minutes” before playing “Everything Goes On” (a collaboration between Riot Games and Porter Robinson for the game). After roaring applause, he then tells the “politely rowdy” crowd that he’ll play a quick acoustic version of “Everything Goes On”, the parody version, appeasing his fans as well as the ones who found him through the video game.
Porter closes off the set with a few more songs and a quick introduction to the inflatable cat on stage named Paws, before taking a short break to let the stagehands reset the stage for the final act. This ultimately results in the cat quickly bumped out by the stagehands in a hilarious act, immediately met with loud “boos” from the fans.
Whether it be the fatigue of the heat from the day or the change of albums, the Worlds portion of the show came with a bit of a lull from the crowd, with some people stepping outside of the venue to sit and have a chat with friends or to get a bite. Despite this, Porter brought the spark until the very end with hits like “Language”, “Goodbye to a World”, and “Sad Machine” to top the night.
Closing off the encore with two of his biggest songs, “Shelter” and “Cheerleader” (where he donned the wings he wears in the music video), fans used every last ounce of energy they had to sing and dance along to Porter Robinson before he hit the road.
I can only describe the experience of seeing Porter Robinson live as something to be in awe of. His sound is ever-changing and eclectic, drawing inspiration from early 2000s pop punk, video game music, electropop, and EDM. He’s an artist who steps out of the box of what DJ’s are conditioned to sound like, experimenting to create an experience the fans can relate to and connect with.
Porter Robinson’s unique voice, musical talent, and relentless stage presence, brought the music to life in an unforgettable night.
