Mac DeMarco, KOKO, London

Mac DeMarco enters the stage and he’s overwhelmed. Shyly introducing himself, the sparkle in his eye is insatiable – to be met with such applause bowls him over in an instant. It is a beautiful sight to see a man so humbled. Opening with this year’s laa-laden, eponymous album opener ‘Salad Days’ and the buzz is festival-esque: people ride shoulders, brazenly chant-a-long, and the good times flow free. Five songs in with live favourite ‘Cooking Up Something Good’ and the atmosphere hasn’t let up. They fucking love it.

The new album, unsurprisingly, fits in perfectly with Mac’s established live set – and while not of a substantially different flavour to his previous, ‘2’, the addition of a synthesiser to the live show is a much-welcomed one. ‘Passing Out Pieces’ receives one of the greatest receptions of an energised and vocal crowd, and the gooey electronics sound outstanding later on album highlight ‘Chamber Of Reflection’, as well as the George Harrison-esque ‘I’m A Man’ - the only inclusion from Mac’s debut record ‘Rock N Roll Night Club’. But in other aspects, with new material he also brings change with him; “Please don’t take my love away”, he sings on ‘Let My Baby Stay’, and it is at this point that a newfound (relative) maturity is laid out by the jangling artist.

Like the wizened lyrics of ‘Salad Days’, Mac seems to have grown into his rock star status with his return to London. He may not be ready for it entirely, but he’s at least been forced to accept it. Gone are the drawling stories about being stoned in the basement, the on-stage belching, the charming dopiness. Bassist Pierce McGarry, whilst still donning the same Jurassic Park baseball cap, attempts a staple between-song joke to fill the silence, but this time he’s barely audible; the show has grown and the 'raunchfests' of old seem like they no longer fit. That doesn’t stop Mac crowd surfing around the whole venue at the end of the set, visible only for his red Vans emerging from the gangly blur of limbs beneath him, but this, for sure, is a performance that finally lets the music do most of the talking.

While those ridiculous medley jams of old are no longer a feature, we are left tonight with a rapturous ode to another great Canadian. “Kneel for Neil”, demands Mac, as the audience squats before he bursts into an ravenous encore of Neil Young’s ‘Unknown Legend’, and it is a song whose title could be the greatest metaphor for the man covering it. Maybe he wasn’t prepared for it, but Mac DeMarco has been crowned tonight; he can only continue to flourish from here.

Tags: Mac DeMarco, Reviews, Live Reviews