Cigarette-smoking,
long-haired youth
love this Canadian
By CARLY SNIDER
Daily Arts Writer
I am standing. I am sweating.
Surrounded
by
cigarette-
smoking,
long-haired
youth,
the crowd sloshes around me
closer and closer. The opening
acts, The Courtneys and Alex
Calder,
prompt
appreciative
head bobbing and shivers of
excitement
throughout
the
audience. With each strum
of the guitar or beat of the
drum the crowd seems to inch
forward, aiming for the closest
possible point in space to the
night’s main attraction — Mac
DeMarco. As the lights finally
dim and Mac makes his way
onto the small stage, the energy
of the crowd erupts. Hands,
drinks and cheers are thrust
into
the
air,
unreservedly
welcoming the goofy Canadian
artist. He begins to play. I am
standing, I am sweating and I
am happy.
***
Mac DeMarco’s sound is
jangly
and
unconventional
and funny — just like his
performance at The Crofoot in
Pontiac, Mich. on Sunday night.
Opening with “The Way You’d
Love Her,” DeMarco had the
crowd hooked from the first
wavy vibration of his guitar.
He touched on fan favorites
like “Salad Days,” “Chamber of
Reflection” and “Let Her Go” all
while maintaining an off-the-
cuff performance style. True to
form, DeMarco would scream,
use funny voices and improvise
with his band throughout the
set. The band members found
themselves in various states of
Mac Demarco is our
holy lord and savior
composition during the 17-song
performance. Members of The
Courtneys and Alex Calder
backed DeMarco on different
instruments; a few even flung
themselves,
per
DeMarco’s
nudging instruction, into the
outstretched
hands
of
the
crowd to surf over the fans for
an entire song.
DeMarco also stepped out of
his generally swirling realm of
musicality, covering “Reelin’
In The Years” by Steely Dan
and
“Enter
Sandman”
by
Metallica. The latter, which
constituted
the
encore,
spanned ten-plus minutes and
consisted of absolute insanity.
“Enter Sandman” in and of
itself is intense — heavily
bass and percussion driven
instrumentation
coated
in
angry vocals. By this point
in the show DeMarco, some
of his bandmates and many
members of the crowd were
shirtless, sweaty visions of
the people they were pre-gig.
DeMarco was drinking on stage
and screaming to the music.
A new crowd-surfing fan was
popping up every minute or
so. There was a quasi-mosh pit
going strong and band members
were eagerly playing off of each
other.
Fans may have initially been
drawn in by DeMarco’s laid-
back jangle sound, but what
really makes him a great artist
is his sense of self. As proven on
Sunday night, DeMarco knows
exactly who he is and what his
art means to himself and to
others. On the surface level,
his performance was relaxed
and
spontaneous
and
fun.
But in looking a little closer,
it is clear that DeMarco lives
and breathes his profession,
that his performances are an
extension of himself rather
than a meticulously calculated
production. He was on fire. The
peak of his inferno occurred
when he threw himself into the
audience and crowd surfed his
way to the edge of the crowd,
climbed a support pole to the
upper balcony and shuffled
along the railing to meet the
fans on the upper level. He then
cheekily motioned to the mass
below then jumped back into
their waiting hands and hitched
a ride to the stage.
DeMarco
and
his
band’s
performance was one of the
most authentic and welcoming
shows I have ever experienced.
He never made the audience
feel inferior, like he was the
almighty artist and we were the
unworthy fans. He was a young
person hanging out with his
friends and making music — a
sentiment most youth can relate
to in some shape or form. He did
not concern himself with his
procured image as an artist or
his perfection in performance.
He was a real person. And from
what I saw on Sunday night,
Mac DeMarco is exactly the
kind of person I look forward to
seeing again in the future.
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
4B — Thursday, November 12, 2015
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com