Canadian singer/songwriter Mac DeMarco was arrested by Santa Barbara police yesterday, at his own concert. DeMarco was reportedly detained for “crowd surfing and climbing in the venue’s high ceiling beams.,” according to the Santa Barbara Independent.
The police were present at the concert from the getgo, as they interrupted the performance roughly 10 minutes in to break up what was dubbed “violent moshing,” despite a crowd of roughly 100 people. At that time, they flashed lights onto the crowd, and some students speculated that they were looking for people who were smoking marijuana. Two attendees were ultimately arrested.
Then, the police continued their involvement by arresting a man who was climbing on the high beams of the venue’s ceiling. Only after the arrest did they realize that the man was actually DeMarco, the lead singer who was, of course, performing. Attendees were thoroughly disappointed by the overbearing police activity, and one student was quoted saying the following:
“[Associated Students] wants to put on these on campus shows as an alternative to kids partying in Isla Vista. What was supposed to be an intimate concert turned into ‘I can’t believe the police are acting this way’….There was no danger in the crowd.”
Here’s video footage of DeMarco’s arrest: