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, and 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!

They had the crowd moving a lot more than I initially expected for the opener of the show, and clearly, the crowd was really digging them. What was a lot of fun was seeing how they had 3 vocalists, layering their harmonies over one another and leaning into each other to really sing into the mics. It gave the whole set this loose, energetic feeling that made it feel less like they were just there to warm the crowd up, and more like they were genuinely just having a blast playing together. It’s always a blast seeing close-knit bands like this where they can get on a stage and treat it like their garage at home.

Their music reminds me somewhat of Boston, to be honest, especially songs like “Foreplay/Long Time”, which can be compared to some of their songs like “Rat Bastard”, which was a new one they performed for the crowd. There was a very classic rock feeling to parts of their set, but mixed with a much scrappier, more modern indie energy that made them really stand out.

At one point, towards the end of their performance, all the frontmen had stripped their shirts (which got the crowd cheering pretty loudly) and they just started jamming on stage. I didn’t catch the names of the last few songs, but what I did catch was the crowd intimately bouncing along to their groove, and having a grand old time watching these guys have their fun on stage. By the end of the set, it really felt like they had won over a good chunk of the room, which is honestly one of the best things you can say about an opening act. Hopefully, these guys get to spend more time out on the road soon, because after seeing how much fun this set was, I’d love to see how other crowds react to them, too! (p.s., give their music a check online, I’ve been a big fan of their song “A Reason”)

After the opening set from Mock Media, the biggest thing I noticed was that this place was PACKED, from the balcony to the floor, even the bathroom, almost completely. 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!