Porter Robinson brought his SMILE! 😀 World Tour to San Diego’s Rady Shell on Sunday, October 13. Thousands of fans gathered at the bayfront venue to enjoy a career-spanning set from the EDM icon, and collectively be “in their feels.”
I must start this story by mentioning the fact that this was my very first time attending a show at the Rady Shell. For those unfamiliar, the Rady Shell is an outdoor venue located on a small peninsula behind the San Diego Convention Center called Jacobs Park. Despite having a capacity of 10,000 fans, being at the Rady Shell can feel like an intimate gathering at the park with your friends. The downtown skyline shines on one side of the park, and the rest of the San Diego Bay can be seen from the other. It’s a very unique venue, and Porter even took a moment during the show to gush about how cool it was.
As crews set up the glowing pink stage, I couldn’t help but notice how clever the pre-show playlist was! Each song played shared the title “Smile,” so everyone got to listen to a little bit of Avril Lavigne, Lily Allen, and Nat King Cole before Porter hit the stage. Sometimes it’s all about the finer details!
It was a chilly fall evening along the San Diego harbor, but bodies immediately warmed up as Porter opened the show with his hyped up song “Knock Yourself Out XD.” With a live band in tow, Porter played a handful of other tracks from his latest album “SMILE!” before transitioning to selections from his previous albums “Nurture” and “Worlds.” Call it Porter’s very own “eras tour,” if you will.
At one moment in the “SMILE! :D” portion of the set, Porter asked everyone to not record what was about to happen. He then played an incredible cover of “KIDS” by MGMT, which turned into a crazy shouting and head banging session for most audience members.
The entire night felt like a giant core memory in the works, and one where you would’ve wished you had more videos to look back upon a decade from now – but all that will matter is the memory of being able to celebrate such a great career Porter Robinson has had so far by dancing with thousands of strangers under the moonlight.
