Marina and the Diamonds / Young the Giants
Opera House, Toronto ON September 8
By Whitney Tam
Marina and the Diamonds (she is Marina Diamandis and her fans are the "diamonds") has already established herself as an up-and-coming pop artist in her native UK, selling out shows and garnering a nomination for this year's coveted BRIT Critic's Choice award. With her first gig in Canada and her only stop in the country this tour at Toronto's Opera House, Marina showcased the best The Family Jewels had to offer.
It would be easy to say that California's Young the Giant are your typical indie rock band, but their lush arrangements, catchy guitar licks, and infectious energy were right on point to get the crowd hyped for Marina and the Diamond's set.
The stunning raven-haired Brit sauntered on stage with a deadpan stare, shades, and an air of mystique that immediately commanded the full attention of the audience. She and her four-piece band opened the show with the appropriate "you-think-you-know-me-but-you-really-don't" track, "The Outsider," a sort of invitation to fans to really get to know Marina during the stretch of the show. Fan favourites like "I Am Not A Robot" and "Shampain" had the usually stiff Toronto crowd of 20-somethings jumping up and down and singing along word for word, while solo, piano-accompanied performances of "Numb" and "Obsessions" highlighted her unique brand of vocals (which are now stronger, steadier, and much improved). Midway through the set, the band jammed to an instrumental build-up until Marina reappeared decked out in the infamous all-American letter jacket, dollar-sign glasses, and two (stuffed toy) burgers, signalling the jump into "Hollywood"―a humorous take on the starry-eyed, tabloid-obsessed society that is America. Drilling through 12 of the 13 witty, radio-friendly tracks off her debut release, The Family Jewels, the show ended with a fitting two-song encore that summed up what separates Marina and the Diamonds from the never-ending crop of pop artists: her ability to flip pop culture on its head and create something new, honest, and unexpected. Stripped down to only a simple piano melody, she transformed 3OH!3's raunchy "Starstrukk" lyrics into a subdued ballad (that if not executed properly could have been disastrous; luckily it wasn't) and ended the night with chirpy "Mowgli's Road," the first single off her debut.
A true performer in all respects, Marina and the Diamonds put on a show that kept the audience captivated from start to finish, questionable dance moves and all. The entire set was laced with her distinct falsetto and signature high-pitched howls, yelps, wails, and cuckoos, and proved that she isn't afraid to be quirky. Her Diamonds were sparkling with her all night long.
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