A brief but heavy downpour hit Cleveland about 20 minutes before the doors opened for the Mac DeMarco show at the Agora on Saturday (May 09, 2026). The crowd waiting to get in was wrapped around the block and every one of them got soaked. Still, as they filed into the doors with clothes plastered to their bodies, they were all smiles and filled with excitement.
The Canadian indie phenom is promoting his latest album, ‘Guitar,‘ released late last year. It’s relatively early in the tour, but many of the dates are already sold out. This was his first gig in Cleveland in over six years. All this made for a special show full of vibes only Mac could deliver.
It’s always a nice surprise when an opener you aren’t familiar with blows you away, and that’s exactly what happened when Mock Media opened for Mac. The fellow Canadians are part new wave, part The Clash and all stage presence. Every song was a treat, but the thrashing and drum breaks on the closer of the set, “Mock City Rocks,” were something else. Check them out, for sure!
It was a sold-out show, and the crowd sounded like it as soon as DeMarco walked on stage, and before nearly every song after that. At times, they let out piercing screams like it was a Beatles concert. But one would soon realize that reaction was with good reason. This sort of show could easily happen at Shea Stadium. It’s built for it. DeMarco is so comfortable on stage. He could, no doubt, be playing much larger venues (as evidenced by his Hollywood Bowl date in October), but it’s a real treat to get to see him playing at these more intimate venues.
They opened with “Shining,” also the opening song on ‘Guitar,’ a sad love song about a lost love that translates to a more upbeat sound on stage, with the full band behind him. In fact, every song from the new album translates well with a full band, especially the keys from Alec Meen, which give it that dreamy feeling DeMarco is so well known for, that isn’t always present on the album. Those keys were just as effective on older songs like “On the Level,” from 2017’s ‘This Old Dog,’ or “For the First Time.” The entire crowd sang along to the latter, “It’s just like seeing her for the first time again,” swaying with the dreamy beat. Rounding out the band was Pedro Martins shredding on the guitar on songs like “Sweeter,” Daryl Johns on bass, and Phillippe Melanson killing it on drums during songs like “Moonlight on the River.”
For anyone familiar with DeMarco, he’s known for his wild stage antics. On Saturday, he was funny, but definitely not as crazy as he used to be, which was kind of a relief. A once heavy drinker, he famously got sober about six years ago, favoring a more “chill” lifestyle. It was nice to have a ‘fun’ crazy, not an uncomfortable one. This was a grown-up DeMarco, and instead of the show suffering because of that, it was all the better as we got a more relaxed and focused (albeit silly) version of DeMarco. Not so much a slacker with something to prove; more enlightened indie veteran.
CHECK OUT CLEVEROCK’S EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW!
It was clear he was having fun, though. He didn’t seem to be taking anything seriously, except the music, and the songs on the new album are pretty serious, ranging from heartbreak and longing to healing. One of those songs was “Terror,” a tour debut, which features the lyrics:
“I am terrified of dying / That old gift we all receive.”
But the vibes were not somber. He was having a blast. Throughout the night, he would stop and twirl the mic by its long cord, crawl on the ground, or slowly strut around while playing guitar in a sort of vibey duck walk. He even did an impressive handstand during “Another One.” These songs might not be what you think of when you think handstand songs, but DeMarco’s stage persona pulls it off. It’s a joy to watch.
He’d also go on funny rants, like one about a time when he told someone he would skin them and make a couch out of their human leather and then send it to their mom, but he somehow said all this in an endearing way. Part of that was because none of this was done in his real voice, sometimes faking a British accent; sometimes using a weird troll-like voice. The crowd ate it up.
The audience skewed towards the young side, in part because of how ‘TikTok popular’ Mac’s songs have become. They seemed so young that there were probably a lot of first-time concert goers, which gave a fun energy to the show. They whole-heartedly sang along to, and this is no exaggeration, every song DeMarco played. They were so new that I personally had to stop two of them from leaving before the encore, letting them know that he would be coming back out. They seemed shocked but elated when the first song of the encore was “My Kind of Woman,” one of the very songs they were hoping he would play and hadn’t yet, causing them to scream as loud as they could.
Many of his songs are short, which allowed for a generous set of over 25 songs. One of the longer ones was “Freaking Out the Neighborhood,” which had an extended jam session, where DeMarco would count off ‘1,2,3,4’ and start back into the song multiple times, again and again. He then reprised that song during the encore, counting off again, before finishing it off with a rendition of “Oh, Canada.”
After the show, fans waited around for DeMarco behind the venue, because he comes out after and greets them at many stops on the tour. Reports are that he spent over an hour making sure he greeted everyone who waited for him. What a champ!
This is an artist who has grown up without losing the plot, more focused and assured, but no less joyful. The set covered the gamut of his career since 2012, and there wasn’t a sleeper song on the set. Cleveland waited six years for this show. It was worth every bit of it
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