Concert Review: Mac Miller Brings "The Divine Feminine" to Life
/Mac Miller performs in Boston on December 11th, 2016 (Mike Zahar/Roman's Rap-Up).
On Sunday, December 11th, Mac Miller performed at the iconic House of Blues in Boston, Massachusetts in front of a completely sold out crowd of over 2,500 people. The night started off with fans flocking through the doors attempting to get the best spot possible to watch the 24 year old emcee perform his newly released album The Divine Feminine.
Mac Miller’s DJ, Clockwork, took the stage to begin the night, and delivered a thirty minute set of today’s hits as well as his own original songs, to mixed review by the crowd. While most of the crowd was enthused, there were quite a few people who felt as though his originals were overplayed.
Mac Miller performs in Boston on December 11th, 2016 (Mike Zahar/Roman's Rap-Up).
Up next, another DJ opener, The Whooligan, took the stage and effectively got the crowd incredibly excited. He was able to keep everyone in the place dancing with a combination of original hip-hop from artists such as Biggie Smalls, Outkast, and Tupac, and radio hits from today from artists such as Drake, Lil Yachty, and many more. The Whooligan did an excellent job blending the smash hits of the past with today's and received incredibly high praise from the sold out crowd at the House Of Blues.
Following a 40 minute break of house music playing, something magical happened. Six big pillars displaying neon lights began to turn on, and an aggressive strobe light routine that seemed inescapable overtook the crowd. As those strobe lights would fade out, the silhouette of a man appeared on the stage. As he stepped forward, that man turned into Mac Miller and immediately sent the entire crowd into a frenzy. Mac began the night serenading the crowd with the Ty Dolla $ign assisted hit “Cinderella” which is a slower song. This shows even the average listener the maturation that Miller has made over his career.
The ability to make a commercially successful love album in hip-hop is one that not many artists have, especially in today’s market. The ability to perform a commercially successful love album, however, is one that not many artists have today. Miller demonstrated his veteran status as a performer by showing that he can transition from performing slower songs about his new obsession with love on tracks such as “Stay” and immediately jump into more up tempo songs that got him famous in the first place such as “Bird Call”.
Mac’s celebrity peers also came out to personally witness the rapper’s captivating performance, including British pop-star Niall Horan, who had performed at a different concert in Boston just hours before.
The crowd went along with whatever Mac did throughout the night, slowing down and dancing when he did his newer slower songs, and bumping and jumping and rapping along on those moments where Miller would resurrect one of his older hits such as “Loud” and “Knock Knock”.
Overall, Mac Miller’s performance on the Divine Feminine tour was an hour long display of the mind and places Mac has been mentally throughout his career, and where he is currently. Miller performed songs he made while he was in dark places, happy places, and while was immersed in love with his current girlfriend, pop superstar Ariana Grande, who was in attendance at the show. Mac showed true showmanship galloping across the stage and interacting with the entire crowd. He took on the biggest challenge imaginable as a performer, and that is to perform slower songs to the masses who know you for up-tempo, “frat-rap”, style songs and he was able to succeed with ease.
