Live Review: Mac DeMarco, Pond, CHAI

CHAI are on stage wearing hot pink shirts, red shorts and high pigtails. Their electric, punk and synth-infused music lights the energy in the room. Two members of the Japanese four-piece, Mana and Kana, walk to the front of the stage and encourage the audience to sway their arms in the air as they play a cover of Culture Club's Karma Chameleon. The four of them come together and introduce themselves to a huge round of applause from the audience.

Pond start their set with the hypnotic and synth-heavy Hand Mouth Dancer and lyrics like, “I didn’t get political, I just faced the facts,” hit hard. The energy heightens as they play Don’t Look At The Sun Or You’ll Go Blind and Nick Allbrook jumps down from the stage to be with the audience. Allbrook’s charisma shines through as he dances and engages with the crowd. Much-loved song Daisy is welcomed with excitement - as soon as the drums hit the crowd begins dancing. Their songs tonight speaks volumes, especially considering Australia's bushfires and the current climate crisis. 

Mac DeMarco starts his set with On The Level and he walks around the stage like a creepy creature with the microphone in his hand. Later, The Stars Keep On Calling My Name and Cooking Up Something Good see guitarist Andy White shine with upbeat, shimmering chords. Things are taken down a notch with a slow version of My Old Man. DeMarco asks the crowd to sing the chorus with him and they follow suit. A country riff starts playing and the crowd sings along to Here Comes The Cowboy. Later an extended version of Freaking Out The Neighborhood stops and starts, growing more intense with every break. 

At the end of My Kind Of Woman, someone from the crowd throws a shoe and it lands next to DeMarco’s feet. He immediately knows what to do, picking it up, pouring his beer into it and completing a traditional shoey without saying anything. Funky song Choo Choo ignites a dance-off in the pit. Despite its repetitiveness, the song is great to groove to. The rich Chamber Of Reflection also makes an appearance, as well as a DeMarco handstand.

At the end of Still Together he and the band leave the stage. They come back but DeMarco and drummer Joe McMurray switch positions. McMurray embraces frontman duties and jumps down from the stage to join the crowd. They play a row of covers: Weezer’s Undone - The Sweater Song, Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and Heart-Shaped Box, and AC/DC’S Thunderstruck. DeMarco is back on vocals now and pulls off an impressive Brian Johnson. The electricity in the room is unreal and we don’t want the set to end! The final song, Watching Him Fade Away, leaves the crowd on a rather sad note but DeMarco creates a special moment by flipping a speaker on its side to sit on. Blowing smoke from his cigarette, he tells everyone to sit down. The lights turn off and a mixture of phone lights and lighters add to the magical moment.