'I'm just tryin' to bring a show, man,' Mac told MTV News just before his high-energy set at Friday's festival kickoff.
By Rob Markman
Mac Miller
Photo: Brian Phares/MTV News
ASBURY PARK, New Jersey — There's only so much partying on Fifth Ave. that a man can do, so on Friday night, Mac Miller hit the Jersey Shore and threw an old-fashioned beach party.
"I'm just tryin' to bring a show, man. I want to bring a performance, I want to bring them into the Macadelic experience," Mac told MTV News hours before he took the stage at the Bamboozle music festival in New Jersey.
Skrillex, Mike Posner, Incubus and Miller all took to Bamboozle's main stage on the opening night of the three-day fest, and they didn't disappoint. For Mac's set, which began at 7 p.m. ET, the Pittsburgh MC brought a portion of his Macadelic Tour to concertgoers who had come to see an array of rock, rap and EDM artists.
It was all high-energy when Miller, who was dressed in an "RIP MCA" tee, set things off with the title track from his #1 debut album, Blue Slide Park. From there, EZ Mac launched into "Don't Mind If I Do" from his 2010 breakout tape, K.I.D.S. Always one to represent for his crew, Miller, his DJ, Clockwork, and hypeman Treejay bounced up and down to "My Team," and then turned things up a notch with the rambunctious "Knock Knock," all to the youthful crowd's delight.
While a majority of the Rostrum rapper's catalog is centered on feel-good jams, he does show range on introspective cuts like "Angels (When She Shuts Her Eyes)." Even when he wasn't ping-ponging frantically across the stage, the crowd responded to Miller's more subdued tracks by waving their hands side to side, showing him that they too are capable of more than just getting crunk.
Before he dove into "Best Day Ever," Mac took a bit of a breather while old Miller family home movies played on a big screen. All the teenage girls cooed as they watched baby Mac open birthday presents and sing along to the Sugar Hill Gang's seminal hip-hop track "Rapper's Delight."
"I wanted to represent the music through visuals, I've always been a very visual person," he explained to us before the show. "I wanted to use that to create the aesthetics of the show and show people what all of the songs mean to me and put them into that world."
Miller picked up the mood with the electric "Frick Park Market" and drew immediate crowd participation with the first line. After spitting, "My name Mac Miller," the crowd responded right on time with a thunderous, "Who the f--- are you?"
It was a lesson on how to properly connect with your audience, one that's invested in every word you rhyme. Last year when Miller dropped his now-gold-selling single "Donald Trump," he promised to "take over the world," and despite all of his success he still makes that vow at the end of each and every show. Last night was no different. After a 40-minute set, Mac sealed the deal with a spirited rendition of "Trump" and then marched off to continue to make good on his promise, one stage at a time.
Are you hitting Bamboozle this year? Let us know in the comments!
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Picture by: Kirsty Farnfield
