Producer John Carroll Kirby was the first to take the stage. Thankfully, most fans at the show were warm and welcoming, allowing me to join the crowd’s celebration of the opening acts’ energy. Witnessing how this dangerous thinking still remains among some of his followers left a sinking feeling in my stomach throughout DeMarco’s set. DeMarco’s past behavior was brought to the front of my mind as I overheard an audience member in the crowd casually joke about raping JD Beck, the 18-year-old drummer accompanying the band for the night. While this occurred years ago, and he claims to have learned from his actions, the same can’t be said about some of his fans. In the past, his stage presence has been anything but benign, and in a previous performance he joked about sexual violence. Hearing a popular indie singer perform in the softly colored rain should have been an idyllic experience - but criticisms of DeMarco’s insensitivities bounced around my head throughout his set. The energy in the venue was palpable as the crowd sang along to the addictive lyrics of “My Kind of Woman,” although I don’t consider myself to be a big DeMarco fan. He traded out smoothly sung lines with powerful notes that bounced through the audience. He paused between songs to tell the crowd about the photograph on the shirt he was wearing (a photo of his one-armed saxophonist grandfather Henry DeMarco), did a walking hand-stand across the stage to compete with his openers’ onstage stunts and thanked the audience over and over for showing up and sticking around despite the poor weather.ĭeMarco’s vocal delivery was excellent, and his band played wonderfully.
A piece of him was missing without being able to interact with his audience.Īnd interact with the audience he did. He was just as excited to see the fans as they were to see him, adding that his girlfriend said he seemed to be “half a man” without the shows. He casually strolled onto the stage, cracking jokes with the audience and vocalizing his unending gratitude. Luckily for his fans, DeMarco also said that being able to play shows again reminded him why he began his musical journey in the first place. He explained during the concert that quarantine made him question whether he wanted to continue a career in music. Being stuck in the house for the last year and a half took a toll on the indie powerhouse just as it did on the rest of us, according to the artist. Mac DeMarco has played at a few festivals around the country as COVID-19 regulations have eased, but his first return to a solo stage was at Stanford. The audience was not afraid to show their excitement: a cheer of “We want Mac!” briefly roared through Frost as the crowd waited for DeMarco. With his commanding stage presence and choice of openers, it’s no surprise that DeMarco’s cult following would travel across the country to see him despite the bad weather.
One of the many people caught in the unending downpour flew out from Washington, D.C., solely for the show another attendee traveled all the way from Colombia to see DeMarco. Stanford students certainly had the easiest journey to the concert, but they were heavily outnumbered by residents from across the Bay Area, some of which drove hours in hazardous conditions to make it to the venue. The adverse weather conditions, however, weren’t enough to stop devout Mac DeMarco fans from showing their support at Frost Amphitheater for the Stanford Live event. The rain and wind led to road closures, flooding and power outages for residents throughout the region. This weekend, the Bay Area was caught in the thrall of its strongest storm of the last 26 years. This article discusses sexual violence that may be troubling to some readers.