Quote:
Originally posted by Eullk
the times hated the album but gave her a 4* performance in the newspaper today
|
Rated to 4 stars
Marina and the Diamonds’ new dance direction hasn’t been a hit. The band — essentially Welsh singer Marina Diamandis, although she tours with a backing band — may have topped the charts in the spring with their second album, Electra Heart, but sales since have been perilously slow. The crowd at this show in what is now the singer’s hometown pointed to the problem. Diamandis’s new sound recalls Katy Perry and primetime Madonna, but there wasn’t a screaming teen in sight. Most fans were in their thirties and forties and only a handful dared to dance.
Yet a fabulous, drama-packed performance proved not only that Diamandis deserves to be a star, but that Electra Heart has been overlooked. She swept onto a retro-decorated stage stuffed with props — a TV showing a doctored test card, a toy poodle, a coat stand hung with kitsch accessories, the album title lit up in neon — wearing a candy pink minidress, white gloves and a wedding veil pinned to her cascading, blonde curls. Diamandis looked like her idol Marilyn Monroe, albeit out on a hen night, surrounded by five black-clad musicians sporting sombre stares.
From the moment the show opened with the stomping, disco beat-driven Heartbreaker, it was clear Diamandis had fully recovered from the vocal cord problems that meant this tour was rescheduled from April. She has been criticised for being too odd and arty — her debut album in 2010, The Family Jewels, was littered with accents and animal noises — and Diamandis delivered the verses in a deep, gutsy growl and the fun, catchy chorus in a high purr that sounded as sassy as she looked.
Old songs Oh No!, Mowgli’s Road and I am not a Robot were retooled to fit the new dance direction, but kept enough of their former oddball indie to get a few fans singing along. But it was the new songs that shone. Lies and Starring Role were magnificent, broody ballads you could imagine being howled back in arenas. The forthcoming single Power & Control, for which Diamandis changed into a tight blue dress, before slipping on a sash emblazoned with “Miss Selfish Bitch”, recalled studio Madonna circa Ray of Light. Bubblegum Bitch was high-octane electropop with ludicrous lyrics that, at last, got some fans shuffling their feet.
A support slot with Coldplay could convert bigger crowds to Diamandis’s fun brand of fizzy pop. If not, it may be back to the drawing board for another new direction.
there were loads of teens and loads of people in there 20s but was a nice review
can't wait though, she is so unreal can't wait for the october concert I'M GOING FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!!! OCTOBERS THE BEST MONTH (MY BIRTHDAY, MARINA'S BIRTHDAY AND MARINA'S CONCERT)!!!! omfg we are gunna hear the new song!!!!
(they were kind of right on that point lmao but still) also the crowd seemed really enthusiastic to me maybe it was more noticeable to us being in the standing area idk. 
It's now tied with Teenage Dream.