Photos and words by Samantha Skapin

Last week, I had the insane pleasure to check out Mac DeMarco for his sold out show at the House of Blues in Cleveland. He had great support from the duo Tonstartssbandht.

Tonstartssbandht opened the show to the extremely packed venue. The duo consists of Andy White (guitarist for Mac DeMarco) and his brother, Edwin White. I hadn’t heard of these guys before the show, but since they were opening for Mac, I knew they were going to be great. They played quite a bit off of their newest release Sorcerer, such as “Breathe” and “Opening”. The songs are quite lengthy, which made a lot of time to watch the incredible Andy and Edwin White jam out as Andy danced around the stage barefoot. The crowd at the House of Blues seemed to love these guys too, erupting in cheering after each song was finished. If you get a chance to check out one of these sold out shows on this run, make sure to get there early to check out Tonstartssbandht, because you won’t be disappointed. Make sure to check out the duo’s newest release Sorcerer as well!

After what seemed like the longest soundcheck of the anxious crowd’s life, Mac DeMarco, the Viceroy man himself, came out to the stage with his band members. I hate to be bias, but I am a huge DeMarco fan, so I was excited to finally see him live and at a SOLD OUT SHOW nonetheless. Mac has had an incredible couple of months, with a a great set at Coachella, the start of a massive tour, and the release of his new album, This Old Dog in May. Mac DeMarco gave a wave to the crowd, and went right into his first song, “Salad Days” from his 2014 album Salad Days. To say he and his band put on a great show would be an under statement. Mac sounds as crisp as he does on his records, and with the new addition of Alec Meen playing some incredible piano parts on songs such as “Dreams From Yesterday“, you can’t go wrong. DeMarco played songs spanning his entire music career such as “No Other Heart”, “My Kind of Women”, and of course one of his most popular songs, “Ode to Viceroy” from his album 2. The crowd was energetic the entire show, never missing a single lyric to shout right back to the band. They ended the show with his outro for most of his shows, “Still Together” off of 2. The song dedicated to his girlfriend Kiera, has always been one of my favorites and seeing them perform it live with the crazy antics the band does during this song was absolutely incredible. Like I said, I’m pretty bias, but check out Mac DeMarco if you EVER have the chance to live because he and his band put on such a great show. Make sure to check out his new album This Old Dog, because it’s one of his best to date.