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04/14/2025

Marie Davidson at Holocene on 4/10/25 - Review

By MATT HANSEN // Canadian electronic producer made her Portland live debut at Holocene touring in support of the album 'City of Clowns'

Most people know Marie Davidson from a remix of a track from her 2018 album Working Class Woman, an album that introduced her spoken world style delivery and the French accent of her native Montreal, Canada. And in the time since then Davidson has maintained a tone closely aligned with the themes found on Working Class Woman, high energy production, divergent subject matter, and the spunk of a personal trainer happily kicking your ass at the gym.

Touring in support of the new album City of Clowns, Marie Davidson made her live Portland debut last Thursday to a packed dancefloor at Holocene. Starting with the track “Demolition,” giving off a very Gina X Performance vibe as she commanded the stage with irresistible bass grooves and animated charisma. After several high kicks in the opening of “Y.A.A.M.” with chorus of “I want your ass on the floor,” Davidson left the stage to dance in the audience much to their excitement.

When Davidson did return to the stage for her next track for the instrumental “Contrarian” it deftly showed her prowess for mixing as the track's drum and bass rhythm energized the crowd with builds of dynamic dance melody. Davidson’s performance was likewise taken up a level later in the night when she performed another instrumental that featured her rapid-fire hand technique on a pitched vocal sample.

Based upon the set list that night, Davidson is the rare breed of musician that can do a set almost entirely of her new material and have fans utterly pleased, rather than have them pining for the previous hits they are familiar with. Although, when Davidson finally went into the Soulwax remix of her track “Work It” from 2019, the crowd went into overdrive for the song that may have served as a gateway for them into her catalog.

Closing out the night with “Push Me Fuckhead” and one word lines that insist our fast-paced world can often have our mental stability fraying, Davidson had made a great first impression on Portland and the crowd at Holocene was very excited to continue the rapport. If you need any proof that the future of EDM is female, look no further than Marie Davidson.  

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