The crowd was full of hipster kids with high hair. One texting his older brother to ask what type of beer to buy – but besides that this was apparently a much more lively crowd than his recent London gig.

The thing about Mac and his band is that they seem to be having a great time. And it rubs off on everyone. Starting out by borrowing plectrums from the audience it felt more like we were in a practice with the band. Mac has an endearing almost magic way with the audience – a real entertainer.

All silly voices and concentration tongue but it somehow isn’t goofy or lame. Obviously it helps that the band are really tight but when they ask for people to come party later on we get the impression they really mean it.

The band goes through songs like ‘Cooking Up Something Good’, ‘Ode to Viceroy’ and ‘Freaking Out The Neighborhood’ which go down really well – the crowd all flailing arms and hair in faces.

‘My Kind of Woman’ leads into a guitar duelling lo-fi cover of ‘Message In A Bottle’ by The Police. The last surprise is a more croonerish version of ‘Stay Together’ – which makes the track feel a bit like a self-help mantra delivered by a late night DJ. But in a good way.

Then Mac ends up doing a quick bit of crowd surfing – which at Green Door Store is a bold move. All in all, one of the more entertaining gigs we’ve been to in a while. Some of the serious fashionistas present should take a cue from Mac and lighten up. I mean, come on, he even watched the support band.

Green Door Store, Thursday 22nd November 2012
Words and photos by Dan Griffiths