Mac DeMarco Concerts Setlist

A kid in Edmonton, Canada, learning guitar from his grandmother while most of his friends were probably playing video games. That's how Mac DeMarco (born Vernor Smith, if you can believe it) got his start. Growing up without his dad around, he poured himself into music, cutting his teeth in high school bands with awesome names like the Meat Cleavers. After high school wrapped in 2008, Mac hit the road to Vancouver with nothing but his guitar and big dreams. He cooked up a project called Makeout Videotape and pressed 500 copies of "Heat Wave" – which flew off the shelves faster than concert tickets on release day.

But Montreal was calling his name, and that's where things really took off, even if he had to work some pretty random jobs (medical testing, anyone?) to keep the lights on. Then came the break he'd been waiting for. A record label spotted his talent and signed him, leading to "Rock and Roll Night Club" in 2012. His next album "2" had critics falling over themselves with praise, and "Salad Days" kept that momentum rolling. He even landed a spot on Conan O'Brien's show in 2015. But Mac's not your typical rock star. Take the time he dropped an album called "Some Other Ones", dubbed it his "BBQ soundtrack," and threw a party in New York where fans could score free hot dogs by helping out a food bank. That's just classic Mac – keeping it real while giving back.

2017's "This Old Dog" dug deeper, with Mac opening up about his complicated relationship with his father on Charlie Rose's show. When "Here Comes the Cowboy" hit in 2019, it accidentally shared a name with one of Mitski's releases – but instead of drama, both artists just shrugged it off. Cracking the US top 10, the album turned out to be his biggest chart success yet. Fast forward through 2020, and 2023 brought us "Five Easy Hot Dogs", an album Mac recorded while road-tripping from LA to NYC. Then something wild happened – TikTok discovered his old track "Heart to Heart", and suddenly Mac had his first Billboard Hot 100 hit.

Not one to rest on his laurels, he dropped "One Wayne G", a massive collection of 199 songs (yeah, you read that right) named after hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. Through it all, Mac's kept things refreshingly honest. He kicked his smoking habit in 2023, still releases demo versions of his albums to show fans how the sausage gets made, and doesn't take himself too seriously – he calls his music style "jizz jazz," for crying out loud. Whether you call it blue wave, slacker rock, or whatever else, there's no denying Mac DeMarco's carved out his own unique corner in the music world, doing things his way and having a blast while he's at it.