Words by Chloe Magee (@helloitsclo)
Graphic by Dominic Gould (@domnotdom)

Here comes the cowboy. Mac DeMarco has returned to the land Down Under for a summer tour. Known for his laid-back and lo-fi songs of love, family and cigarettes, the acclaimed ‘King of Indie’ brings with him a cheeky wit, a reverb-soaked guitar and a gap-toothed grin so big it splits his face each time he flashes it. Everyone here tonight is eager to see what antics will ensue as he brings fifth album, Here Comes the Cowboy to Australia.

It’s a sold-out show. With a standing capacity of 3,000, the venue is, as one can imagine, a little overwhelming.

Coheadliners POND perform first. After a sold-out Australian tour of their own in 2018, POND is in perfect form. Lead singer Nick Allbrook struts with a Ziggy Stardust-inspired stage persona. This is evident not only in his appearance but the way he glides across the stage singing into a vocal synthesizer. Playing hits ‘Sweep Me Off My Feet’ and ‘Paint Me Silver’ POND’s euphoric synthpop-meets-psychedelia, has their audience swaying in time with every beat.

As POND exits crowd anticipation hits its peak. It grows with every passing minute until Mac DeMarco takes the stage and launches headlong into This Old Dog’s ‘On the Level’. He arrives in football shorts, a striped t-shirt and a bucket hat, juggling the microphone between both hands as he sways his head to the song’s dreamy synth melody. “Thank you very much,” he shares, “the show has begun”.

The nostalgia-inducing ‘Salad Days’ comes next. Its folksy flow has the crowd bouncing with every “la la la.” The set then takes a sidestep as Mac’s guitarist Andy White steals the spotlight for a full-blown cover of Seal’s ‘Kiss from a Rose’. The crowd is left open-mouthed by Andy’s stunning vocals as he sings the lyrics from his phone screen. The stunning cover quickly ends with White blowing raspberries into the mic before the band jumps back on track with the jangling ‘Ode to Viceroy’.

The lights start to dim as Mac shares an intimate moment with the audience, instructing all present to turn their phone flashlights on in order to accompany the sweet-sorrowful tones of ‘Another One’. The crowd obeys, creating what resembles a starlit sky, as they sway in trance to DeMarco’s soothing vocals. He then gifts them unreleased love song ‘I Like Her’ apologizing if it is interpreted as a little creepy. Then Mac serenades those in attendance with a striped-back version of ‘Still Beating’.

The longer the set progresses, the further a listener travels into Mac’s insanity. Not often can it be said that the moments between a concert’s songs are some of the greatest highlights. Whether it’s Mac’s random outbursts of screaming, his partaking of a ‘shoey’ onstage and dragging out of an audience member to do the same – nothing can compare to the level of entertainment Mac DeMarco brings to the table.

To round out the night DeMarco pulls out the golden oldies. First is ‘Freaking out the neighborhood’ – a jazzy number which has the crowd not only singing along to the lyrics but the guitar melodies too. Its followed by the gentle and romantic ‘My Kind of Woman’. The 2 song has people coupling up left and right, swaying lovingly in time.

A quick transition in atmosphere then sees Mac soaring through his Number One Hit ‘Chamber of Reflection’. As Mac describes it, the song is a release of his inner demons. Midway through performing the song he takes a puff of a cigarette, throws the microphone on the ground and does a handstand, whilst then pulling his shirt over his head and slapping the mic on his bare stomach before resuming some sense of normality to perform the chorus of the song as if nothing weird had happened.

Just as the crowd thinks it’s all over, Andy White leads into a 15-minute guitar solo which goes for about 15 minutes and draws elements from 3 songs. Mac accompanies him on a Juno synth. Mac then abruptly commands the audience to “open the pit”. Acting upon DeMarco’s bidding a sea of bodies shoves themselves towards the mosh pit. As Mac bursts into a cover of Herman’s Hermits’ ‘I’m Henry the 8th’ people thrash euphorically as others are left confused to wonder what the hell it is that they are witnessing.

Surely this is the finale? Nope. Mac jumps on drums, while drummer Joe McMurry sings an amazingly mediocre cover of Nirvana’s ‘Heart-Shaped Box’. At this point, it must be noted that the concert has well and truly descended into chaos.

Finally, wrapping things up, Mac and the band play one last chorus of ‘Chamber of Reflection’. As ridiculous as Mac’s[performance, his musical talent is without question. Simultaneously belly laughing and engaging, the cowboy Mac DeMarco definitely topped our expectations and left his audience wanting more.