Slacker indie manchild Mac DeMarco with support from Los Bitchos at Dublin’s Vicar Street. Photos by Gemma Bovenizer.
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In the sweltering heat of an early July evening swarms of young Irish hipsters enter the Iveagh Gardens. Amongst the sea of blunt fringes, ratty facial hair and cuffed jeans there are brief pieces of chatter that you would expect from the audience of a Mac Demarco concert. There’s talk of drinking cheap booze and, of course, every other second the word “cigarette” is heard. Without even an ounce of an introduction the first support act, Kirin J Callinan takes to the stage wearing a beret, all black clothing and holding in his hand a fluorescent pink guitar. A few…
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Why does 28-year-old Mac DeMarco command so much reverence from so many younger fans, right across the world? It’s a question as old as time (or, well, circa 2013), and yet, a definitive answer is still outstanding. Sure, there’s the midpoint he strikes between authenticity and unconcern. There’s the albums and countless live shows that veer between inward-gazing, heart-stung, silly and fun as all fuck (and who, juvenile or flirting with the grave, can’t get behind that?) Then there’s the tattered baseball cap and rollies chic, which is every bit as dominant as a love of the harmonic twists and turns that…
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Dublin’s annual October Bank Holiday fest Metropolis always deliver with the line-ups, and it seems that this year is going to be no exception. Ahead of many more acts to be announced, Mac DeMarco, Blood Orange, Villagers, Roisin Murphy, The Black Madonna, Young Fathers, Grandbrothers and Gwenno are amongst the first names confirmed to play the RDS across October 27-28. Promising, once more, music, performance, conversation and installation for its fourth edition, tickets go on sale at Friday, August 24 at 9am, ranging from €49.50 to €115.00. Installment plans are available.
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Canadian indie rock hero Mac DeMarco will play Belfast’s Limelight 1 on Monday, October 29. Having played Dublin’s Vicar Street back in November last year, it will double up as DeMarco’s debut show in the city. Tickets for the show – which is hosted by Strange Victory – are priced £24.50 and go on sale on Tuesday, October 29. Doors are at 6.30pm.
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As the doors to Dublin’s iconic Vicar Street open, a queue of eager teenagers file through in anticipation of seeing their idol take the stage. For many it would be their first gig and they embrace it with the uncontrollable excitement I remember having once upon a time; running to the barrier to get the best spot and buying as much merch as they can afford. Pints? Pfft, pints are for old people. Mac DeMarco’s allure has always enticed a younger crowd and even though his latest release, This Old Dog has seen him mellow out to a degree, he can’t…
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After 16 years, there’s no doubt that Primavera is Europe’s premier festival, for everyone from the capped-up indie kids to right-on middle-agers seeking some escapism, from the techno heads on through to High Fidelity type nerf herders and vinyl hoarders. So: how does Europe’s best music festival follow up on a last year’s best-ever edition – a mammoth lineup topped by Radiohead. Well, partially through sticking with what works – every sub-genre well catered for and then some, and not just on the three main days at Parc del Forum, but in venues across the city in the preceding weeks.…
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“Mellow” is a word that, quite obviously, always sprung to mind whenever Mac DeMarco breezes into conversation. And indeed, no other word could be more fitting for This Old Dog, his third full-length release and the eagerly anticipated follow-up to his 2015 EP, Another One. The self-proclaimed king of “jizz-jazz”, loved for his goofball sense of humour as well as his chill lo-fi sound has carved a niche for himself since his 2012 debut 2, always decorating his music with a hint of melancholia and a tongue in cheek self-awareness. DeMarco seems nothing if not comfortable in his own sonic world. Comfortable though,…
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Having recently announced that he’s finished recording This Old Dog, the forthcoming follow-up to 2015’s Another One, indie rock chill-out king Mac DeMarco will stop off at Dublin’s Vicar Street on November 22. With previous Irish dates at Electric Picnic 2015 and the Workman’s Club in Dublin back in 2013, tickets for the Vicar Street show – priced €25 including booking – go on sale this Friday at 9am. This Old Dog is out via Captured Tracks on May 5.
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As we posted about last week, Blur are amongst several new acts set to play this year’s Electric Picnic. Also confirmed to play the annual Co. Laois festival – set to take place from September 4-6 – are Interpol, FKA Twigs, Grace Jones, Mac DeMarco, Sam Smith, Despacio, Yasiin Bey (Mos Def), MK, Gavin James, Printer Clips, Julio Bashmore, Paul Kalkbrenner, The Riptide Movement, The 2 Bears, SOAK, Viet Cong, Fickle Friends, Kwamie Liv, Honne, Fat White Family, Dawes and Benjamin Clementine. Blur and Sam Smith join Florence and the Machine as the festival’s headliners. With many more acts to be announced,…