Porter Robinson’s headlining Summerfest set on the Fourth of July was an unabashed home run. His emotionally iridescent electronica translated to a truly breathtaking live show, earning a spot as one of the very best acts that the festival saw this year.
Before the much-anticipated headlining slot at the Generac Power Stage, New York hyperpop duo Frost Children kicked things off with a set that was nothing short of surreal for the festival. Waving a massive golden flag and donning swagged-out school uniforms, siblings Angel and Lulu Prost blitzed through an hour of bassy, frenzied electropop bangers, occasionally interrupted by their signature DJ tag (“Frost Children, bitch.)” They were only accompanied by a drummer, who furiously kept up with their pace – but not without breaking a major sweat during the more intense four-on-the-floor beats of their most hyperactive material. A wildly campy act like Frost Children isn’t normally what you’d expect from Summerfest, but maybe it’s an exciting sign of more experimentation and musical diversity on future lineups.
Robinson took the stage shortly after a disappointing drone show in lieu of fireworks, but entered with enough velocity to immediately win over the Friday night crowd. Opening with a barrage of selections from his most recent album SMILE! :D, the emotional rollercoaster began with the sardonically chipper “Knock Yourself Out XD”, brought Frost Children back out for the anthemic “Mona Lisa”, and reached peak levels of endearing sappiness during “Is There Really No Happiness?” and “Russian Roulette”.
Chronologically cycling through his three studio albums, he then moved on to the exhilarating, eyes-to-the-sky highlights of 2021’s Nurture and the halcyon electronic pulse of 2014’s breakout album Worlds. Robinson and his band performed in front of a large inflatable cat (who he introduced as “Paws”), before the stage crew deflated it prior to the third act to make more room for an array of large illuminated bulbs, on which he played the opening notes to “Sad Machine”. It was hard to hide his smile as he gazed into a crowd of several thousand attendees, all screaming and jeering at the artist that many had developed a decade-plus-long relationship with.
Very few live shows end on a higher note than Robinson’s does: after returning for an encore, he closed out the night with “Cheerleader”, possibly his most blissfully euphoric track to date. As the soaring lead synth line picked up, confetti rained down on the crowd in a moment of pure ecstasy. Although we didn’t get fireworks this year, maybe we got something even more explosive.