Featured image by Danica Anne Nuestro
Just when the live stream market was becoming a little over saturated, Brownies & Lemonade pulled the rug out from under us with the announcement of Porter Robinson’s Secret Sky.
If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past year, you’ve definitely heard of Second Sky music festival. Porter fans have practically been begging for their own festival since the Spitfire era, and June of 2019 he granted their wishes with a two day festival that was nothing short of amazing.
But before we get too nostalgic, let’s talk Secret Sky.
First things first, the lineup.
If there’s one thing we can assure you, it’s that you won’t find a lineup like this at any other festival. Virtual or physical. Period. Porter has a knack for showcasing his friends and favorite artists, and let’s just say he has some serious range.
There is nothing — and we mean absolutely nothing — like starting your day off with a DJ Potaro set. The lovable stuffed mascot first made its appearance when it waddled out on stage to reveal that none other than Skrillex himself was the surprise guest on day 2 of Second Sky. This time around, DJ Potaro took the form of a 2010-style electro-house Porter Robinson set, playing timeless bangers like “Say My Name” and “Warp 1.9” left and right. Who needs coffee when you can have this instead?
The rest of the afternoon carried on with sets from artists like San Holo, Jai Wolf, Anamanaguchi, and more. The taste? Impeccable. Each artist took full advantage of the resources they had to make an extremely special performance even from their own living rooms, and it was awesome to watch Porter, other artists, and fans live tweet enthusiastically throughout the day.
The viewers held strong as it inched later into the evening for the trifecta of Madeon, Porter, and a G Jones DJ set, along with the graces of WAVEDASH and a hardcore 600-BPM Lil Texas set to cap off the night.
We could probably write a twenty page thesis on Madeon’s set alone, but some of our favorite honorable mention highlights were: Madeon premiering unreleased music, an Avril Lavigne x Porter Robinson “I’m With You (Language Edit)”, and Porter debuting a new track from his forthcoming Nurture album. It was truly a wild ride from start to finish.
As the cherry on top, Porter also gave fans the opportunity to experience Secret Sky through an interactive online auditorium.
There haven’t been many virtual festivals that have truly captured a sense of community, but this one was an exception. And from the 14 hours of music, over $100,000 was donated to the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund.
If you missed the chance to tune in (or you’re just having post-fest blues and want to watch it all over again), a few select artists have posted their sets for later listening. For easy accessibility, we’ve linked them below in order of performance.
KNOWER
GRRL
Shadient
Doss
Nanobii
Anamanaguchi
Madeon
Porter Robinson
WAVEDASH
G Jones
A. G. Cook
Happy streaming!