Mac DeMarco’s Indie Night at Packed First Ave
Howdy y’all!
We recently had the joy of Mac DeMarco stopping at First Avenue, and it felt about exactly how you’d want a Mac DeMarco show to feel. Loose, funny, a little all over the place at times, but in a way that works perfectly for him, and showcases the fun side of the music. The room was packed before he even came out, and once the set started, the crowd stayed locked in the entire night.
Opening up the night was Mock Media- admittedly, I had not heard of them before, but they brought some GROOVY guitar and basslines, and their performance felt more like a jam session than anything else. It was fun!
Right away, however, the biggest thing was that this place was PACKED, balcony, floor, even the bathroom, almost 24/7. It was really hard to be able to move around in this place, and even try to find a proper view for the show, so next time he rolls around, be prepared to show up and nab a spot even before the opener appears fully!
After a little while, Mac showed up and took the stage, and the night turned into one filled with awesome music, random stories, crowd banter, and everyone screaming lyrics back at him. The set pulled from basically every era, too. “For the First Time,” “Still Beating,” “On the Level,” and “Passing Out Pieces” all sounded great live, but obviously “Chamber of Reflection” and “Freaking Out the Neighborhood” got some of the biggest reactions of the night. Hearing an entire room yell every word to those songs wasn’t a surprise either, and practically every person there knew every lyric.
My only personal gripe was that some of the songs were pushed on the tempo, speeding them up, which, I’m sure, was needed to fit in more songs for the already pretty long concert, but still, that's just me. I like to hear it normally!
My favorite thing, though, throughout the whole set, was that Mac was just a GOBLIN on stage in between songs. Literally speaking, gibberish, or just nonsensical words or banter to the crowd, it was engaging and funny to listen to every time. He is also just wild on stage. Jumping onto things, running around, getting way too close to the other band members, etc., just a funny, funny thing to watch.
Overall, a super fun, albeit packed and cramped, perfect indie music night with one of the all-time legends to get it right. I highly recommend going to see him live when you get the chance, just to have some fun more than anything!
