Photo: Zac Mahrouche
Canadians famously dislike being called nice. Well I'm sorry Mac, but everything about your show in Brixton tonight is so damn nice. Fortunately, if there's anything this country's music fans need right now it's a dose of unbridled positivity.
There is an electric atmosphere in Brixton tonight, even before the Albertan troubadour takes to the stage. It's clear to a relative outsider that he and his fans share a special bond that leads to a thundering crescendo of noise as he shambles into view.
The transatlantic love-in only gets more intense as the delighted throng sings along to every word of a euphoric version of 'Salad Days'. 'No Other Heart' and 'For the First Time' complete an opening trio that delights even the "boyfriend circle" towards the back of the room. The latter brings to mind 'Queen' by Perfume Genius, a sign that DeMarco has more to him than the slightly narrow singer/songwriter tag some wish to assign to him.
It's not all sunshine and lollipops though. At one point DeMarco takes issue with security after they engage in some over-zealous crowd management. After ensuring their attention is firmly on the stage, he berates them and tells them to 'chill the fuck out' before he's prepared to continue. This sparks a small ripple of nascent dissent among his fans, although one suspects the bouncers are not quaking in their boots at the thought of 2,000 melodic indie fans running amok at they rush to the barricades.
As the night progresses, DeMarco shows himself to be a master of pacing a show, a skill that many artists either struggle to master or simply ignore altogether. Moving from 'Freaking Out The Neighbourhood' to 'One More Love Song' and onto 'My Kind of Woman' is the kind of close formation musicality that's been ironed out throughout the band's recent American tour.
And that's one of the reasons why tonight is such a triumph. This is an artist and a band riding on the crest of a wave, while honing their craft on the hard wheel of modern touring schedules. Throw in an added excitement at being in the UK, a country that adores DeMarco maybe as much as any other, and it feeds into what is undoubtedly a special night.
By the time an extended gonzo version of Crazy Town's 'Butterfly' comes around, followed by closer 'I'm Henry VII, I Am', singer and audience are as one as he floats around the venue on their backs and their shoulders.
So love wins in South London tonight. And with the country currently so divided, and still in mourning for the victims in Manchester, sometimes that's simply as good as it gets.
