Mac Demarco: The Arches, Glasgow (20th May 2014)
Mac Demarco's rise is seemingly unstoppable. He's come along way from his 2012 raunchy freak-pop Rock n Roll Night Club record. It was his toned down and playful sophomore LP 2 that launched him to stratospheric fame - and popularity - amongst those in the know music wise in North America. Tonight, however, it is clear that the "mac-fever" has crossed the Atlantic.
Demarco and his backing band seem entirely unfazed that the one thousand capacity venue is packed full with audience members mimicking the singer-songwriter's trademark howls. 'Salad Days', the title track from his latest album, opens the show with its funked up old school groove; everyone is hooked from the offset. New songs are received well but it is without doubt the old "hits" like his tribute to cheap cigarettes 'Ode to Viceroy' that really gets the crowd going. By the time the crowd pleasing 'Freaking Out The Neighbourhood' rings out in the tunnel like venue it seems that Demarco is unstoppable.
However, tonight is not just about the music. Demarco's on-stage chat certainly adds to the show. He heckles over-zealous security guards stopping "kids" from crowd-surfing and jokes at his awe for the flashlights they shine into the crowd - "sorry, thats my eye doctor". He is a man of the people and that is what makes him so popular. He is an alluring enigma one filled with contradictions. On one hand he is the lover boy troubadour while also being the gap-toothed slacker. He is a real 'flawed' hero.
It may be two years since the release of Rock n Roll Night Club yet tonight that is precisely what he transforms the venue into. Even on the slow burning love ballad 'Still Together' his voice shrieks and howls - his two personas merging in spectacular fashion. It is unlikely that many current artists could reach out and connect with the crowd in quite the way that Demarco has tonight. At the end of his most recent record Salad Days he remarks "thank you for joining me, see you again soon buh-bye". Hopefully it won't be long until Glasgow sees this alluringly contradictory character again.
Best moments: Demarco's elongated crowd-surf / his raucous rendition of Metallica's 'Enter Sandman'
Rating: 9.5/10