On March 4th of this year, MARINA, formerly known as Marina and the Diamonds, dazzled the crowd at the Moody Theater with her ruffle blouse and leather pants.
Photo by: Rachel Bai
An ode to the modern world, Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, the album she toured for, touches on a range of issues that plague modern society and depicts her journey of self-acceptance and love. It’s different from her other albums because it focuses on activism and empowerment but similar because it draws from her personal experiences. This pop album not only shows Marina’s lyricism but also her vocals, as many songs have impressive high notes. With its impressive quality and message, this album has quickly become a fan favorite, one of the many reasons why the concert hall was packed with fans, old and young.
The concert opened with the songs “Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land” and “Venus Fly Trap” consecutively, the former talking about being trapped in traditional ideals and the latter empowering listeners to be fierce in their own way. The fourth song in the setlist, “Man’s World,” lamented how men were destroying Earth and society and her desires to live in a world not run by men. She also sang “Goodbye” and “I Love You But I Love Me More,” songs that bid goodbye to her former destructive self before recognizing that she should put herself above anyone else. Every song was met with the crowd’s enthusiasm, every person in that concert hall united by mutual respect and agreement.
Marina also showed off her dancing and singing skills with every song. For some songs, she sang with the other vocalist of the band, their beautiful voices blending together to create a harmonic melody. For songs such as “Forget” and “Are You Satisfied”, she started off with the ballad piano version before transitioning back into the normal pop version. Bathed in glowing green, orange, or cyan light, Marina looked ethereal, as if she was an angel descending from heaven to grace the world with her talent. The crowd responded to everything she did with high-pitched screams and cheers, loud and encouraging.
Photo by: Rachel Bai
Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land wasn’t the only album that Marina performed, though. She brought back songs from her most popular album, Electra Heart, to her fans’ delight. Then, when she sang “Teen Idle”, fans exploded with excitement. When she left the stage and came back on with two more surprise songs, “Bubblegum Bitch” and “Primadonna”, fans almost fainted with their love of these two songs. Marina also went even further back to perform some songs from her album The Family Jewels: “I Am Not a Robot” and “Oh No!”. For fans who have followed her music since the 2010s, these songs were a nostalgic throwback to when they were younger and more carefree.
Photo by: Rachel Bai
All in all, Marina shows to fans the exact reason why she had been a force to reckon with in the music industry for almost 15years. Her legacy and the messages of her songs have been a comfort for fans for many years and will continue to be in the future.
Featured Image by Talisa Trevino