Mac DeMarco and Asia

When I listened to his albums this summer, first thing in mind was these albums were definitely worth listen. But to be honest I was never really interested to know who is him like in person, I’ve always wanted to surprise my self when it comes to relating music to its creator, let-the-tracks-speak-for-itself kinda thing. We’re about to see him at Pitchfork festival this year but reality brought us back home, so when we knew his doing Asian tour, we just have to see who’s Mac.

We’re lucky enough to be able to review some cool festivals around, including Clockenflap Festival this year. Mac was one of the line ups on the last day, so one thing we’ve noticed was this guy likes to blend with the crowd. After their Hongkong trip, they played in Bangkok, where he and his band buds learnt how to differentiate lady boy with a regular girl.

So, last Saturday night we arrived at Home Club, Singapore when the two Kiwi’s Carb on Carb played their rock setlist, they just directly heated up the stage on the first place. Not long after them 4 piece Filipinos indie band, Bee Eyes, went up stage with their fun rock songs and a bit of pop and slacky style, loosened up the crowd. Consisting of guitarists Julius and Idris, along with drummer and bassist Miguel and Diego they played “Someone Else”, and provide what “The Best Band In The Philippines” had to offer.

Bee Eyes was pretty much impressed us, but since we were excited to see the guy who sings “Ode to Viceroy” we put down our beers and straight to the front stage. Ok not that front, but front enough to have the opportunity to touch his butt (d’uh!). We were totally amazed by how sweet his songs are, yet how crazy he is in real. The only thing on my mind was who the fuck is this guy? Mac alongside with his (also) talented band buds, Pierce McGarry (bassist / Walter TV and weird video maker), Peter Sagar (guitarist / Homeshake) and Joe McMurray (drum) totally introduced us to the wilderness of Canada. Remind us again where the heck Drake comes from?

The setlist was pretty much the same as in the festival or other small gigs like in Bangkok. Which is very nice, it gave the impression that he doesn’t differentiate the crowds. Starting with “Cooking Up Something Good”, continued with “The Stars Keep On Calling My Name”, “Rock and Roll Night Club”, “Ode to Viceroy”, “Annie”, “Freaking Out the Neighborhood” and making funny jokes (while trying hard to make the crowd go wild) with “Baby’s Wearin’ Blue Jeans” and did his thing by crowd surfing in the middle of “Still Together”. The Gig was pretty much chilled out rock n roll night. After the gig we had the chance to chat with the bands. So might as well say saturday night well spent!

Not much different with Singapore, when we headed to The Bee, in Kuala Lumpur. Just face it, nobody likes Mondays. It’s always a day associated with stress, anxiety, and fatigue but this monday wasn’t just any ordinary monday. After our interview with Mac and his buds, we knew today will be the day where fans of Mac DeMarco can remember as the night where they can go back to the rock and roll night!

Bee Eyes was also opening for Mac DeMarco that night. After an eight song set, Bee Eye’s gets the crowd to let DeMarco know that they’re ready for him. And from the moment DeMarco and the band walked up the stage we foresaw the show to be as raw as possible. “We love rock & Roll, and we hope you do too” professed DeMarco to greet the floor. He unhooked the barrier lines and called forward every soul in the room to move up (not forgetting to smoke in the midst) and start rocking to “Cookin Up Something Good”, this time “Rock & Roll Night Club” came next, with an end unexpected to all. Pierce wrapped up the song with a screamo-ish spinoff, engulfing our inner rock demons to claw out. 3 songs in and it’s already a floor-quaking show. DeMarco loves his casual intermissions between songs to interact with the floor, or call it smoke breaks even, they even dedicated the next song to the couture brand, Dolce & Gabbana. Gracing the band with “Ode to Viceroy”, Lead guitarist, DeMarco shreds an intense guitar solo, one of many at least. Jumping across the stage and kneeling down, emotion is well apparent throughout the set.

After playing “Annie”, the venue became an open mic night. DeMarco decides to “Shake it up” and pass the mic to someone in the crowd, singing along to “Stairway To Heaven”. By this point it was like being in their very own garage chilling together drinking beers listening to their music. The lack of boundaries gave the opportunity for the crowd to interact with the band with freedom. “My Kind Of Woman” followed after, relaxing the crowd while they sing to every lyric.

Climaxing the show with “She’s Really All I Need” meshed together with an electrifying guitar solo emulating the greats. From here on, it was full on rock and roll, but with a twist. Pierce announces that there were only two songs left, evidently lying. Stirring things up and not following the rule book is just their style, not to mention the extensive swearing to cherry the feel. Stringing together his song together with a cover of Status Quo’s “Takin’ Care Of Business” slyly changing the lyrics from “You get up every morning/From your alarm clock’s warning” to “Wake up in the morning/Suck my dads cock”. Jumping from Limp Bizkits “Break Stuff” to The Beatles “Blackbird” to a heavy metal scream of “Stairway To Heaven”. It didn’t make sense, but it somewhat did because the audience was just into the whole ensemble reciprocating DeMarco’s humor. Whatever you’d expect to see at a gig is present, but twisted in all sorts and shapes to DeMarco’s liking, ending his set crowd surf during “Still Together”

Justifying DeMarco’s statement at the start, we do love rock and roll. Infused with his slackery, sloppy style of music. He just bled out effortless charisma and charm, turning this not-so-ordinary Monday to a raw, interactive massacre of fun.

By the end of the days, we know now there’s something noteworthy about Canada besides Ryan Gosling, Robin Scherbatsky and Chuck Hughes.

[Text: Dorothy/Zafran. Photo: Dorothy/Kristy Chong]