Photo courtesy of Ilana Gold and Atlantic Records
The Setlist:
Setlist unavailable
The Lineup:
Marina Diamandis – AKA: Marina and the Diamonds
What international import is decadent, sinfully sweet, addicting, and should be part of your daily musical intake?
None other than Marina Diamandis, and the delicious Froot she was handing out to a sold out Indy crowd.
Ms. Diamandis and her band – Marina and the Diamonds recently made a stop at the Egyptian Room at Old National Centre. The Welsh-born singer has come stateside to support her new record Froot, and judging by the line that was wrapped almost completely around the building, plenty of folks came out to partake in this not-so-forbidden fruit.
I’ll admit it, I have no idea who Marina is. Up until a few days ago, I couldn’t even tell you who she was or what one of her songs sounded like. So it’s these reasons I thought I would be the perfect person to go to her upcoming show and write things about it. Clean slate, no biases, and plus, I’m always up for something new. So let’s get started here. Allons-y.
It’s been a while since I’ve been to a sold out show in the Egyptian Room, so imagine my surprise when I pull up to the venue and see a line that is almost wrapped around the entire building. Being one of the last people to arrive, when I finally get to the upstairs area, it’s already pretty packed. The crowd – mostly high school and college-aged kids with the occasional parent hanging around – converse amongst one another while a DJ spins on stage, playing mostly all of the hottest Top 40 songs. Everything from Taylor Swift, to Nicki Minaj, to Wiz Khalifa and more while many people sing along to their favorites, throw their arms up, and dance like this is Downtown Indy’s hottest new nightclub. Though maybe not my cup of tea, it does seem to warm everyone up, and if they’re this receptive to someone spinning records, I can’t wait to see what happens when a full band takes the stage.
Our DJ wraps up his set, and he exits the stage to a nice little ovation. Now comes to waiting period. To make this wait even more exhilarating (frustration), a large, red curtain is concealing everything going on behind it. What’s happening? What are they setting up back there? Who knows?
How impatient is this capacity crowd? Every time we even hear the slightest noise or see something bump into the curtain, cheers erupt and everyone in the immediate vicinity gets their phones out ready to record everything. Dare I say, this might be the most excitable crowd I’ve seen since the Echosmith show in this building’s basement just a few months ago. By their reactions, this seems like a ticking time bomb, or a bottle of Pepsi you shook up a little too much, just ready to explode at the slightest touch.
But the wait goes on…and on and on and on and on…
And then, the house lights go out, the curtain finally opens, and we see an interplanetary backdrop, completely with planets and a starry night (not the painting), and two inflatable pieces of fruit are seen on both sides of the stage. The audience erupts once the band takes the stage, and once Marina – equipped with a cherry headband and a mic stand that resembles a light saber – walks on, the place goes nuts. She greets everyone before going right into “Bubblegum Bitch,” and we’re off and running.
Or maybe I should say off and dancing? Let’s get this out of the way first: Marina is everything you want to see from a performer when you go to a show. She’s charismatic, exuberant, completely loves what she does and legitimately seems excited to be here (she mentioned this is her first time performing in Indy), and more importantly, she has the crowd right where she wants them, which is right in the palm of her hand.
Speaking of which, about this crowd. This once-ticking time bomb has turned into an all-out explosion of singing, dancing, cheering, and overall, just losing their minds. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a crowd this lively at a show. They cheer relentlessly when one song begins, sing with reckless abandon, and I even saw a few people start fanning themselves whenever Marina made her way over to their side of the stage. Is this a Marina and the Diamonds show I’m at, or the second coming of Beatlemania? Either way, I’m not going to argue. Even if I am effectively trapped where I’m standing, I wouldn’t want to be anyplace else than this room, with these fine people.
For over an hour, Marina dances, sings, and weaves her way around stage like it was her own personal playground, and she does it damn well. Even to someone who doesn’t know who she is can appreciate how much she put into this show. Once the music stopped, there were a few moments of awkwardness when it came to interacting with the crowd, but if anything, it just made her that much more likeable. It’s like watching your best friend perform, if she just happened to be a talented singer and performer.
The downside? After the one hour mark, this much Froot began to feel eating too much of your Halloween candy at once. Something this sweet is great, but definitely left me feeling a little overwhelmed towards the end of the set. Of course, once she announced her final song, it felt like it was too soon. I was already having withdrawals and she hadn’t even started the song yet. She thanks everyone for coming out, and says she hopes to come back soon before clsoing it out with “How to Be a Heartbreaker.” From there, she takes one last bow with her band and sends us all on our way. No encore this time. The house lights come up, and everyone starts filing out of the room (except for a select few who were chanting for an encore anyway). It’s back to my car, where I’ll be cursing at my phone over a soccer game and trying to form words over what I saw.
Final verdict?
It’s been 24 hours (as of the time of this writing), and I feel about the same way as I did last night. As I tweeted out, “Marina” is an English term meaning “hell of a performer.” She was entertaining, extremely likable, and hit all of the right notes (in the literal sense).
Someone who can sing? Great. Someone who can perform and captivate an audience? Also great. Someone who can put all of that together? Well, that’s just desserts at that point.
The Good:
As I described in the previous 1000 words, Marina and the Diamonds is one of the best live shows I’ve seen this year. Her performance hit on all the right notes: she was entertaining, charismatic, captivating, and just a complete joy to watch.
The Bad:
The DJ set seemed kind of odd, even if he was just there to warm everyone up. Marina’s set got a little overwhelming towards the end, but that’s just speaking from someone who didn’t already know her music. If you were already a fan, you were in paradise.