Show Review: Mac Demarco @ Stubbs (10.20)

Expectations were quite high for Tuesday night at Stubbs. Riding high off the release of Another One, Mac Demarco and company came to a sold out venue to share the new tunes as well as jam out some of the old. Playing to quite the young crowd, though one who has probably seen the band in some capacity—over the past year, Mac has played not only one, but two of Austin’s festivals. For those who have seen Demarco’s live act, the night was quite predictable, but nevertheless enjoyable. Read on for my full recap.

Walter TV, essentially Mac Demarco without the Mac, was the first act to take the stage. This band is comprised of Pierce McGarry, Joseph McMurray and Andy White, or those familiar faces that make up Mac’s backing band as of recent. The early set time for this first opener saw Stubbs about half full when the band began, but those who came early gave their attention fairly easily to these gentlemen. They played their weirdo rock, whose jangly rock instrumentation was pleasing, but was a bit diminished by the vocal performance of McGarry. The distortion on the vocals sort of give the sound as though an alien is singing, and while I’m all about weirdness, the presence here was a little too cacophonous for my taste. Alex Calder, fellow Canadian act, was up next, and seemed to not quite catch the audience’s attention, which was drained from the first band. Focusing past show talkers who don’t know how to respect live music, I managed to slowly get into Calder’s subtle tunes. The band were fairly static on the stage, barely moving as they breezed quickly through the set, but this style of performance matched their music and eventually had some select few dancing along to the guitar driven indie rock.

As for Mac Demarco’s set, the audience got exactly what they came for—a night of rambunctious jamming to stoner pop tracks. The band opened with “The Way You’d Love Her, “ perhaps the track most resonant of the older material from his newest mini album, and it sounded great in the live setting. The guitars, twangy and twistedly distorted, rang out crisply in the mix, while Mac’s vocals, not usually lauded for their quality, were sweet and soft. Continuing, Mac and company bounced back and forth through the catalogue, older tracks from 2 and Salad Days gaining the most cheers, but the newer, sentimental tunes had a steady presence of crowd participation in singing along. There were the usual antics—climbing on top of the roof on the stage right side of Stubbs, hip thrusting, silly voices, jokes about playing on the same stage that Korn had just graced the previous night, and of course, crowd surfing.

I will say that the extra mellow mood of the newer songs made the night seem a bit subdued in comparison to previous sets that I’ve enjoyed from the band. This isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy the night; on the contrary, these softer moments brought out a new side of the gentleman and gave some variety to the otherwise silly shows. However, in light of these more serious moments, some of the act came across as a little dialed in. The instances before that seemed to liven the band’s spirits just felt a bit flat and obligated, as though their past shows dictated and demanded the stage dives and hip thrusting. Though this was a minor qualm in an otherwise fun evening. I look forward to seeing what Mac Demarco brings to the table for his next album, and how his live act will continue to evolve.