Marina and the Diamonds

By Megan Walker

Marina and the Diamonds played a sell out gig at the Stylus of Leeds University and despite it being the 5th November and bonfire night, the crowd numbers showed the bigger party was taking place at Marina’s show.

The singer, who is from Cardiff, had a very complex stage set up with a projected back drop which was used to play films on. This was the first thing that was shown to the audience, showcasing a silhouette of her and playing an interlude – to which the crowd gained energy and clapped along to immediately.

Marina appeared on stage in a long black dress, complimented with bright pink lipstick and opened her set with ‘Family Jewels’, a song from her new album – ‘The Family Jewels’. Assisted by a wind machine, the singers hair was blowing back showing her true beauty.

During her set, the singer had numerous dress changes, coming back on to the stage with props such as a LED heart-shaped belt which flashed bright pink to match her neon lipstick during her well-known song ‘I Am Not A Robot’. For track ‘Mowgali Road’, Marina wore a simple Coca Cola baseball cap which was hand ‘pimped’ with black and white feathers, emphasising the singers quirky fashion sense and originality.

The indie-pop queen boasted an amazing light display, like that of real jewels, turning the Stylus in to a disco. Marina’s vocals were exactly as they sound on disc, as she flawlessly performed tracks from her new album.

Throughout the night Marina created a great solidarity with her audience, engaging them more and more in every song. The front section of the audience helped create more energy for the people at the back of the dance area, by jumping, dancing and singing along enthusiastically.

The singer kept insisting she would never become a ‘fake’ recording artist and that she believed strongly in honesty in the pop industry, although she quoted it was all ‘a big bag of lies’.

Throughout her encore of the ‘Numb’ piano solo, Marina spoke to the audience about how she wished she could do gigs for free, how she didn’t care about the money and just enjoyed showcasing her music.

Overall, Marina gave a million percent to her performance and this was really shown during her final song ‘Hollywood’, where a mass of confetti was released from the ceiling covering everyone in red, blue and white paper, showing true American spirit! After this performance it seems that the next time Marina plays Leeds, she could easily make the stage of an even bigger venue for her adoring fans.