Mac Miller: The Div
Roughly a month after the release of The Divine Feminine, his most critically acclaimed album to date, Mac Miller set off on a nation-wide tour named after the album. I was lucky enough to attend the Atlanta stop on October 17, 2016, which was the official first stop of the tour outside of the festivals that he had been performing, so it was a great night with really high energy.
The show started off with a kooky and fun DJ set form DJ Clockwork, Mac’ s long-term DJ, and it was enough to get everybody ready for Mac. Instead, the stage was graced with another DJ from the West Coast by the name of LAKIM. His set was definitely ambitious, but it didn’ t resonate with the crowd as well as Clockwork’ s set did. While DJ Clockwork intermingled some of his own goofy records into his mix, LAKIM tried his best- and at times viciously nailed it- blending neo-soul, trap, funk, and EDM. In both cases, the music was unpredictable and undeniably fun. It can be argued whether it was a good idea to put two DJ sets back to back at this show, but I’ m sure that no other DJs would have set the tone so accurately for Mac Miller’ s incredible set. Regardless, after LAKIM exited the stage, everyone in attendance was ready for Mac to make his appearance.
While the wait felt like forever, the MC did not leave the crowd waiting long. About 10 minutes post-LAKIM’ s exit, the lights dimmed and“ Cinderella” started blasting from every possible angle. The screams of all the girls in attendance combined with the yelled approval from the guys was deafening, rivaling the level of the track. Then the light show began as Mac Miller ran out right as his verse began, standing front and center reciting one of the standout cuts from The Divine Feminine until the chorus came back around. And that is when the crowd went crazy. The floor was jumping while the seats upstairs were swaying, but the entire Tabernacle was full of genuine love, joining the absent Ty Dolla $ ign with almost drunken enthusiasm.
“ I BEEN WAITING ALL NIGHT FOR THIS MO- MENT! I BEEN WAITING ALL YEAR FOR THIS MOMENT!”
And no other song could have accurately portrayed how the crowd was feeling at that very moment. We had all endured the DJ’ s to make it to the main attraction, and we were finally being rewarded after 80 minutes or so. This was also pre-election of Trump, so while the year had not turned so cynical yet, everyone in attendance had been waiting for a show like this. This was a show that your dad could have a beer to while simultaneously being a show that teenagers could mosh to. It was a chance to chill out and have some fun without worrying about the election next month or the midterms next week; it was lovely.
After the standing ovation that concluded his performance of“ Cinderella,” Mac took the time to introduce himself to the crowd( which I think is extremely underrated, regardless of one’ s stature), thank everyone in attendance, and to remind everyone at The Tabernacle to keep buying music. It was quick and concise, giving us a breather because the next string of his songs would be nonstop. Without further ado, he streamlined straight into some cuts from GO: OD AM, Watching Movies With The Sound Off, and Faces, and the energy was a lot more visceral than the song that he opened to. The experience was fun to say the least; it was like taking a journey throughout the past 3 years and realizing how much Mac had grown as an artist. Even Alexa, who wasn’ t familiar with his pre-GO: OD AM cuts, was feeling the ambiance; the whole venue was electrified. What he was doing was priming the audience because he was about to delve into three more tracks from The Divine Feminine, and he wanted that same energy to carry through to the more mellow and slower tracks coming up.
And dammit, he pulled it off.“ Congratulations” which is a song that should never be allowed on the aux when you’ re with the homies. He swayed through“ Stay” and“ Dang!” with ease and kept the venue moving the entire time. Mac worked the crowd, and it was impressive. If he wanted us to keep dancing, he knew exactly what needed to be done. So as he went back to one of the standouts from GO: OD AM,“ Weekend.” I was secretly hoping that Miguel would just pop out at any moment, but the performance was outstanding nonetheless. If Miguel could have seen how the crowd handled his chorus, he would have been proud of us.
Then our host decided to take us down memory lane. This year, he rereleased his true breakout mixtape, Best Day Ever, for its fifth year anniversary, so it was only right that he dedicated a song or two to this continued