Porter Robinson Concert!

On the 7th, I attended a Porter Robinson concert at the Sylvee in Madison, WI with my husband as our anniversary present to each other.

I knew going in that it was going to be VERY painful, and so I talked with my doctor in advance and asked for ONE painkiller. Instead, she gave me four pain killer pills for the whole process.

I was super excited AND terrified that I wouldn’t be able to last it out and would have to leave.

Instead, one of the staff members was AMAZING, and so I wrote the Sylvee to tell them so. Here’s the letter:

My husband and I went to Porter Robinson’s concert this last Friday, and I wanted to send a thank you to one of your staff members.

I’m disabled, but don’t look it, and I was really conflicted about sitting in the ADA sitting… but I also know that I can’t stand for more than ~15 minutes at a time. My husband and I had just argued about it, but I didn’t want to stand out or have to explain my disabilities, and there was no one sitting there already, and I don’t LOOK disabled. So he was upset and went to get drinks, and I sat along the wall.

The staff lady who was watching the ADA seating checked on me, and she was quick to see through my assurance I was fine. In the end, I felt comfortable enough with her to explain my conflicted feelings, which is unusual for me. And she was super supportive and sent me over to sit, which my husband appreciated. I was embarrassed, but she was so kind!

I had heavier pain meds for the night, but they wore off ~10:00 (4 hour meds), and I’m unwilling to take a medication in public, ESPECIALLY when it might look like I’m taking something illegal which the Sylvee website is Very Firm about.

So the last section of the concert was excruciating despite the seating. (This is NOT the Sylvee’s fault or responsibility. I knew what I was getting into – this is my daily life.)
If your wonderful staff lady hadn’t convinced me to sit where I ended up, I wouldn’t have been able to stand staying through the entire concert. She let me get to see my favorite musician, at my first concert, with my husband, for our anniversary.

She probably didn’t think further about me.

But she made a WORLD of difference to me, and I hope you send her a thank you!!!

They were AMAZING. Later on during the show, we were joined in the ADA section by a few folks, so it wasn’t so awkward.

The concert was AMAZING. Believe it or not I’d never gone to a concert before so it was an entirely new experience. My husband remembered to bring ear plugs, so we put them in pretty much immediately.

As for the concert itself, none of my videos turned out, but you can see the concert in full from this recording here from the Oakland Arena event in California. Almost identical performance from Porter.

The initial performer sounded like he had a cold, which is unfortunate, but the second was okay, and THEN IT WAS PORTER.

We LOVE Porter Robinson, and I’m really happy we went to see him. He’s so awkward and sincere at the same time that he’s adorable, and his music is amazing.

He goofed on the song for his girlfriend, repeating a verse, and he choked up during it too. He also had us yell ‘Thank You Rika!’ for her which was cute.

Will I ever go to another concert?

Unlikely.

I was in so much pain I could barely sleep that night, and I ended up taking all four of the painkillers – one during the concert, one immediately after, one for bed, and one when I woke up the next morning and could barely move.

But I had a fantastic time, and I’m glad to have this memory.