Live Review: Mac Miller, DJ Clockwork, Baro

A close-to-empty Metro Theatre was quickly filled with Melbourne rapper Baro's sultry tones and slow soul grooves, redolent of Chance The Rapper, closely followed by a PG crowd who could not seem to be dragged away from their Instagram feeds by his laid-back demeanour, despite the impressive musicality he displayed.

To contrast, a busy DJ Clockwork turned the lights way down, asking the crowd "Can we get weird tonight?" — to which they duly agreed. Dispersing a magnetic vibe, he mixed a solid set of tracks that seemed to time capsule the apparently-recent formative years of most of the crowd; it was no surprise he is still performing with Mac Miller, telling the crowd it was eight years on from their inaugural gig.

It wasn't until headliner Mac Miller appeared that anyone could really grasp just how rowdy this was going to get. After cancelling his Australian tour last year due to exhaustion, and having not performed here since 2014's Big Day Out, the long-awaited return of this Pittsburgh prodigy was readily welcomed by his iron-clad troupe of fans. They knew every word — and it was clear Mac Miller was no longer tired.

With the crowd in constant motion, Miller pulsed his way through heavily-amped mixes of his older tracks. "Fuck Donald Trump" the crowd chanted before encore Smile Back had sweaty bodies thrashing to his trap-drenched, electrifying woofs of sound.

His stripped-back version of God Is Fair, Sexy Nasty was genuinely relayed to his admirers. As one impassioned fan excitedly explained to this writer about his latest album The Divine Feminine, his growth and maturity not only as an artist but as a person embracing sobriety, falling in love, feeling all the things everyone deserves to feel, is evident in his soothing expression, relatability and honesty — the execution of which was on display tonight. 

"F.U.N," Miller spelt, "let's have fun." Again, the crowd could not protest, and Dang! fun was had at the gig.