10/05/2012 - Recently, I have seen Porter Robinson & Zedd perform at Electric Zoo, Roseland Ballroom, and Pacha NYC, so basically every style venue respectively speaking. Although this review is only on my experience at Pacha NYC, I think it pretty much sums up all three shows considering their mixing style and song selection was outrageously similar throughout. My standards are higher then average and I know most concert goers in the greater New York area are spoiled with top tier DJs spinning at multiple establishments just blocks away on any given night of the week.
Porter Robinson & Zedd are both very capable of making massive house tracks, as we all know from previous productions. However, these two, along with so many other DJ/producers fall comfortable to producing music using the same BPMs and similar sounds, if not the same sound, in many of their songs. Sure, that whiney growling sound does make for a great drop in songs such as Unison or Shave It, but use the sound once and get rid of it, or at least don't use it again until people forget a little bit. Enduring four hours of the Pacha sound system growling at me got boring after a while, so I decided to venture down into the Pacha pit to spice up my night. The songs these two produce are just too similar which reflects in the sets they perform together. I liked how Pacha NYC held Erick Morillo and Chuckie at the same event because how different their music is from each other. There was something for everyone.
Although the night got off to a rough start as the night progressed the show got better. I got to hear a Gangnam Style Bootleg featuring PSY, a song you have heard in some form numerous the past few weeks if you listen to music. I also heard a remix to Porter Robinson's 100% in the Bitch that was nearly as good as the original, which I didn't think was possible. If you've seen Porter Robinson lately you've probably heard the song Believe Me (Botnek Remix) by AC Slater & Xaphoon Jones, which is a tune sporting a jungle vibe definitely worth downloading. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed numerous tracks within the duos set but was just expecting more then what I got. Some of the best tracks I could not identify during the night are probably Porter Robinson or Zedd productions. Overall, I think Porter Robinson & Zedd are great producers that need to spice up performances along with some other DJs and add a little more variety in production style of their songs.
AC Slater & Xaphoon Jones - Believe Me (Botnek Remix) by partylikeusrecords
Reviewed By Christopher Cullen
Photos by Michael Elezovic
Follow Porter Robinson on Twitter
