I loved Mac DeMarco’s Toronto concert on Monday December 8, the first of two sold-out nights at Massey Hall.
Surprisingly, he played little guitar, leaving the music to his 4-piece band while he sang his socks off. Meanwhile, his between-song stage patter was absolutely hilarious. The Edmonton-raised DeMarco spent most of the evening talking in a Tom Waits-like voice about stuff such as which one of his band members was the juiciest should anyone in the audience be hungry.
And there was also A LOT of Simian-style dancing.
Mac asks everyone to get their flashlights out while he does a handstand during “Another One.” (All photos by VA)
His band was great, capturing and expanding on his indie/low-fi take on John—&—Paul—fronting—Steely—Dan sound, or “Jizz Jazz” as he has called it.
The bass player actually did a bass solo near the end of the set. I’ll bet he has some Jaco Pastorius in his collection.
Not the best photos from a distance, but you get the idea.
Most of the tunes came from that great 4-title run: II, Salad Days, Another One, and This Old Dog. I am so-so on the new album, Guitar, but every track he played was much improved with the band behind him.
An intense “Moonlight on the River” was my highlight for the evening.
As this is Mac DeMarco, it was a pretty chill night, with “Freaking Out the Neighbourhood” the one tune that rocked out a bit.
I had seen him once before, in 2014, around the time of “Salad Days,” and then as now, the shows were excellent.
Simian Dancing.
Australian opener Tex Crick was far better than I was expecting. He and his 4-piece backing musicians were really unique. A bit like Lou Reed fronting Steely Dan (them again). I loved them and they went down really well with the crowd.
I will eventually be podcasting and blogging about this show in full down the road in the mylifeinconcert.com series. I’ll also later be looking at the first time I saw him 11 years ago for Concert No. 184. Bluesfest Recap July 2014: Mac DeMarco, Violent Femmes (July 6), Lady Gaga (July 5), Jeff Tweedy (July 4), and Procol Harum (July 10), LeBreton Flats, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, July 4-10, 2014.
It’s always a wonderful experience just to be in Massey Hall, my favourite concert venue. And of course, another Toronto institution, Fran’s, is always great for a post-show bite to eat.
NEXT SNAPSHOT: 54-40 return to the London Music Hall and blow the roof off the joint. Plus: The perma-bopping lass.
SNAPSHOT 220. 54-40 with Kandle, London Music Hall, London, Ontario, Canada, Thursday November 27, 2025
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