Mac DeMarco Detained, Fans Arrested During UCSB Concert
Mac DeMarco’s show at UC Santa Barbara was brought to an early end on Friday when the singer was detained by campus police after two fans were arrested.
The Santa Barbara Independent reports that the intimate concert, with a crowd of only about 100 people, got off to a troubling start at University venue The Hub. Some ten minutes in, security officers took to the stage and shined lights into the audience. They arrested a 22-year-old man for challenging security officers and other fans to fight. They also arrested a 21-year-old student for moshing and charged her with resisting an officer.
After the show resumed following the first interruption, DeMarco jumped out into the audience and was hoisted up into the venue’s ceiling beams as he crowd-surfed. When he climbed down a staircase back onto the stage, police met him there and detained him. UCSB police lieutenant Mark Signa told the paper that they didn’t realize they were dealing with the evening’s performer until they spoke with him outside.
Some students expressed frustration with the heavy police presence at the event, which included four levels of security, from event staff to campus police. “What was supposed to be an intimate concert turned into ‘I can’t believe the police are acting this way,” one concertgoer told the paper. “There was no danger in the crowd.”
DeMarco later posted a photo of himself during the detainment to Instagram along with the note: “Had a good time with the #santabarbarapolicelastnight.”