Indie
Live review: Mac DeMarco caps off Brixton stint with euphoric performance
Fans flocked to the third and final night of Mac DeMarco's stint at London's O2 Academy Brixton and weren't disappointed.
Mac DeMarco brought his three-night run at the O2 Academy Brixton to a close on Friday (12.06.26) night, delivering a characteristically chaotic and deeply communal performance to a sold-out crowd of 5000 fans.
Hours before he even took the stage, the anticipation in the air was palpable. Queues stretched all the way around the building (which had a sign saying ‘3 Nights – Sold Out’ hung proudly at the front), and then 200 metres down the road. A predominantly youthful crowd was buzzing with excitement, filling south London with chatter long before the headline act was due to appear.
Support act Otto Benson proved a fitting opener, immediately capturing the audience’s attention with a stripped-back set and a crisp, well-balanced mix. His laid-back performance provided a calm contrast to the excitement building in the venue, with one of the loudest reactions of his set arriving when he informed the crowd that DeMarco would soon be taking to the stage
When the lights eventually dimmed and the spotlight hit the stage, Brixton erupted as DeMarco wasted little time reminding the audience why he has cultivated such a devoted following - climbing onto monitor speakers, ripping the microphone from its stand and throwing the stand away to give him more room to dance, and encouraging singalongs from the very first song. From that point on, the whole audience was captivated by his presence.
Mac DeMarco/ Credit: Ines Dias Ferreira for The Indie Scene
DeMarco immediately set a frenetic but controlled tone - moving away from a traditional static performance style: pacing the stage, interacting with bandmates and physically throwing himself into the music whilst maintaining a strong vocal delivery. At points he climbed onto his monitor speakers, danced across the stage and treated the space less like a performance area and more like a playground. He cycled between high and low energy songs, effortlessly controlling the vibe in the room. One moment he would be running around doing flying kicks, the next he would have the whole room swaying to Still Beating.
Between songs, DeMarco leaned into his trademark humour and unpredictability, shrugging off difficulties with his guitar, he explained to the crowd “My acoustic guitar took a s***, so I’m not going to play it" and cast the instrument aside.
Despite the looseness and chaotic nature of parts of the performance, the band remained tightly locked in throughout, providing strong foundation for the shifts in energy to feel intentional rather than disjointed. They showed their chemistry with some extended jams between songs to keep the songs in the setlist glued together.
The most powerful moments of the night came when familiarity met intensity, with several tracks transforming into crowd singalongs. Freaking Out the Neighbourhood delivered one of the most unrestrained reactions, with the crowd taking over both the guitar and vocals, pushing the energy in the room even higher than it already was. The band faked the ending three times, launching back into instrumentals powered by a guitar solo as well as Mac’s explosive dancing.
Elsewhere, more reflective moments provided a striking contrast to the energy peaks. No Other Heart and Heart to Heart saw the crowd locked into unified singalongs. At points during Ode to Viceroy, the crowd sung so loud that they effectively took over the performance, drowning Mac DeMarco out. Moonlight on the River saw the entire audience waving their hands and swaying, as one.
Mac DeMarco/ Credit: Ines Dias Ferreira for The Indie Scene
The main set concluded with Chamber of Reflection, which drew the loudest sustained reaction of the night. Rather than relying on spectacle, the moment was defined by collective voice and atmosphere, transforming the track into something euphoric.
As Mac DeMarco left the stage, chants of “One more song!” echoed through Brixton. Eventually DeMarco returned, delivering an epic version of My Kind of Woman to bring the night to a close. As the lights came up, the crowd was clearly still buzzing. Mac DeMarco had managed to turn a sold-out Brixton Academy into a close and intimate-feeling space. As people exited, the atmosphere showed no sign of fading. People flooded onto the streets, discussing favourite moments and singing fragments of songs. On the tube journey home, strangers struck up conversations with each other, sharing memories of what had unfolded minutes earlier, reinforcing the feeling that this had been less a standard concert and more a shared experience.
Rating: 8.5/10
