Concert Review: Mac Demarco @ The Hordern Pavilion

With his signature ‘Ed Sheeran gone sleazy-yet-sultry’ charm, indie stalwart Mac DeMarco delivered a veritable tour-de-force of his discography to a sold-out Hordern Pavilion crowd of 5,500. 

Having been heralded as the “loveable prince of indie rock” and producing a documentary short about himself entitled ‘Pepperoni Playboy’, Mac DeMarco’s stonerish personality certainly precedes him. Yet, owing to the throng of corduroy-wearing, tote bag-carrying, ratty-haired fans, it became quickly apparent that the charm and laid-back style of the twenty-nine-year-old musician remains as potent and real as ever nearing a decade into his prolific career.

However, before DeMarco and his merry band of Brooklyn hipster types were to take the stage, it was time for the first opening act, CHAI, to energise the accumulating crowd. Donning identical pink leotards and pigtails, the Japanese quartet blasted through their setlist with peppy aggression. Although the mixing of their instruments occasionally left the synth parts of many songs sounding murky and the bass, at times, indistinguishable, their performance capability and genuine enthusiasm shone through a lack of distinguishable sonic layers. A short half-hour later, the second opening act Pond settled into the stage like it was their natural habitat, with lead singer Nick Allbrook gallivanting through the performance with an unhinged and animated swagger. Featuring several members of seminal Australian band Tame Impala’s live ensemble, the Western Australian band brought the noise with a tight dynamism and just the right amount of crowd surfing between them, hitting peak groove with a cover of Madonna’s ‘Ray of Light’.

With the crowd primed and already amply drenched in sweat. DeMarco emerged onto stage with thunderous applause he had yet to earn but already more than deserved. Sporting a bucket hat and a newly-grown moustache, he looked 29 going on 40 but loving every minute of it. Getting the crowd swaying with ‘On the Level’, a popular track from his 2017 album This Old Dog, DeMarco dived cooly into a lengthy setlist. Particular highlights of the performance included ‘Nobody’ and ‘Choo Choo’ from 2019’s Here Comes The Cowboy; although the latter track is often credited as a weak point in the tepidly-received album, it was substantially enlivened with a funky rearrangement and an impressive solo from Mac’s pianist. Every three to four songs was marked by witty repartee that DeMarco and his lead guitarist maintained with the crowd. A venue-wide chant of “Fuck ScoMo” was met with smiles of nervous amusement from DeMarco onstage, who then proceeded to do drink a ceremonial shoey at the raucous insistence of the audience. 

Effortless engagement in crass humour and charm in equal measure is something that seems to come naturally to DeMarco, allowing him to perform songs about his strained relationship with his father (‘My Old Man’) and lament his favourite brand of cigarettes (‘Ode to Viceroy’) in quick succession whilst never diminishing the appeal of his performance. On the way to concluding the set with a note-perfect extended rendition of Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’, DeMarco pounded out further classics of his own such as ‘Freaking Out the Neighborhood’ and ‘Chamber of Reflection’, both emblematic of his signature jangly sound that he’s previously described as ‘jizz-jazz’. Besides consistently teasing the crowd with excerpts of AC/DC’s perennial ‘Thunderstruck’ that never came to full fruition, Mac Demarco’s performance was a joyous and stimulating experience, enough to drive various audience members to hurl cowboy hats onstage or furiously demand he notices their hand-drawn fan art.