Mac DeMarco – Ulster Hall – Live Review – 31/08/26
by Cathy Brown

Mac DeMarco, Ulster Hall, Belfast, 31 August 2026

Mac DeMarco has spent much of his career cultivating a reputation as rock’s lovable agent of chaos. On stage, anything can happen — and usually does. But at the Ulster Hall last night, DeMarco seemed determined to rein it in. Well, sort of…

There were still walking handstands across the stage, a fight with his mic stand, a climb onto the venue’s historic organ and an extraordinary duet with his perennial onstage photographer Yuki, performed while the pair balanced precariously on two upturned monitors. Yet the antics never threatened to overwhelm the music. Instead, they were reminders of just what an instinctive and thrilling showman DeMarco has become.

For two hours, a sold-out Ulster Hall sat happily in the palm of his hand. The familiar favourites were deployed with impeccable timing: “Sweeter”, “For the First Time” and “Chamber of Reflection” all drew huge responses. DeMarco’s four-piece band also deserves considerable credit, filling out his deliberately scruffy indie sound with real heft on the bigger numbers. “My Kind of Woman” was expansive and muscular, while “Freaking Out the Neighbourhood” was a roof-raising highlight.

If the music was assured, the between-song banter was gloriously unhinged. DeMarco remains incapable of speaking between songs like a normal human being, veering from Captain Beefheart-esque pronouncements on the varying sizes of pipes to questions delivered with an oddly formal, Moira Rose-inflected curiosity about whether Belfast was enjoying itself.

And that is perhaps the secret of DeMarco’s appeal. The chaos is entertaining, but underneath it is a performer with impeccable instincts. He knows when to let the absurdity take over and when to simply stand back and let the songs do the work.

The encore summed up the evening perfectly. A surprising rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature” provided an unlikely but completely fitting finale, complete with the obligatory moonwalk.

DeMarco may have reined in the madness, but he hasn’t lost the mischievous spirit that makes his live shows so distinctive and, most importantly, entertaining.