Mac Demarco at the Danforth Music Hall

“Is that Kevin Parker of Tame Impala?”, Mac Demarco said in an Australian accent. He was talking about a long haired gentleman who stirred the crowd up by spraying its members with beer and finishing with the coup de grâce (tossing the half filled can into the very back of the audience). This man was a part of an on stage party Demarco had set up, where a group of fans sat for the entire set. They drank, smoked (presumably marijuana), joked around, and occasionally broke out and interacted with the crowd (as the supposed Tame Impala singer did). There weren’t any rules, and these people could have done virtually anything they wanted. Yes, this was just another day in the life of the screw-the-blues indie singer Mac Demarco, whose unpredictability has become a well known staple (ironically).

This was the final show of his tour, and we will never know if he purposefully went out with a bang. Every show of his is a party, and we could have easily not have had any special treatment. I can recall the set he played at NXNE, where he brought a fan named Luke on stage and proceeded to have fun with him; Even to the point of kissing him. This was a moment I thought was improvised, but I was corrected on a Capsule podcast episode: He did this at all of the NXNE shows he was a part of (but with different fans). With that in mind, Demarco is still someone who performs weird acts on the fly, and it’d be damn near impossible to plan some of the stuff that goes on at his shows (if they were meticulously planned, then it’d be just ridiculous). Some fans brought a street sign with his stage name’s last name on it, and he accepted the gift and had it on stage with him. It’s occurrences like this that you can’t orchestrate; Mac Demarco is just as cool as the winters from his hometown in Duncan, British Columbia. He replied to the crowd’s yells, he joked around, and he just didn’t give a singular damn as per usual.

His music is anything but a joke, but it’s so laid back that anything will fly when these songs are played live. If Demarco wants to throw in an out-of-place rock yell during a slower song, it somehow works. His material is consistent enough that you can guarantee that all parts of his show, even if he was sane and not invested in goofing around, would be entertaining and equal. His songs are always short, and each and every track played live feels like another wave of a high coming on (how much did we smoke again?). With his eclectic behavior, it is not only difficult to not want to join in on the fun, but it’s also impossible to even be on his level. When he almost stole the show as an opener during NXNE, I was already enthralled. Having seen him headline his own fraternity party was something truly extraordinary. He is the embodiment of what we all thought college would have been like. His shows are the heavily intricate comic panels of cartoonists like Dan Piraro, where you will find hilarity in places you shouldn’t even be looking. He is a slacker who has been nominated for a Polaris Prize (and for damn good reason): The yin and the yang of determination. Having seen him twice now, you know exactly what to expect (a good time with some relaxing music) and never what will specifically happen.