Mac DeMarco at Aviva Studios: Review

Back in April I was lucky enough to get tickets for indie legend Mac DeMarco, and after months of waiting, the time finally came.

In true Liverpool fashion, when my boyfriend and I woke up last Friday we were greeted with heavy rain and wind. However, we had agreed to get to the gig as early as we could, and made our way to Manchester despite what felt like a monsoon. Between the awful weather, unorganised queue, and cancelled train, I would be lying if I said that the before and after of the gig wasn’t a little bit of a disaster, but it was worth it!

Earlier this year DeMarco released his sixth studio album Guitar, which honestly came as a surprise. After his last release in April 2023, One Wayne G, a 199-track album of mostly instrumentals and demos, it almost seemed like the artist wouldn’t be coming back.

Although only recently getting into his album’s properly (being heavily influenced by my boyfriend to do so), like most people my age I’ve been aware of DeMarco for a long time, having listened to songs such as ‘Chamber of Reflection’ obsessively when I was 14. Since then DeMarco has continued a successful career, with resurgences of his early work via platforms such as TikTok.

DeMarco delivered an amazing show on Friday with a 90-minute set, balancing his well-known hits with older material and plenty of tracks from his new album.

Needless to say I was very excited during the gig, anticipating song after song for both the 14-year-old and 20-year-old versions of me! DeMarco is a one-of-a-kind performer, not only an amazing musician and vocalist, who sounds exactly like his studio recordings, but also a charismatic, fun presence on stage. Between handstands and surprisingly suggestive dancing for a guitar-led indie artist, DeMarco also delivered heartfelt love songs the audience knew every line to.

DeMarco also showed a lot of love for his band during the gig, performing a song written by his bassist, Daryl Johns, and giving each musician a chance to solo. The support act, Tex Crick, another artist under DeMarco’s record label, was also a great watch with his jazzy piano songs. Despite some questionable gig etiquette from the crowd during Crick’s performance, (which is another conversation entirely), it’s a great feeling to see a support act and know that you’ll leave the venue with another artist on your playlist.

Regardless of the rather frantic journey to and from Manchester, and the disappointing decline in gig etiquette in a post-lockdown world, seeing Mac DeMarco was an amazing experience and I highly recommend getting a ticket if you ever get the chance!

Read our other music articles here: https://www.liverpoolguildstudentmedia.co.uk/category/music/