[KGVID width=”568″ height=”320″]https://www.coppellstudentmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/IMG_1588.mov[/KGVID]
Meara Isenberg
Staff Writer
@mearaannee
DALLAS- On Wednesday my friend and I arrived at South Side Ballroom at 6:50 p.m.- and then kept on driving. The line to get into the Marina and the Diamonds concert stretched all the way down the block and around the corner, and no doubt foreshadowed the amazing show that awaited us behind the ballroom’s double doors.
We had arrived an hour before the opening act, Shamir, and figured we had come early enough to snag a good spot, right? Wrong.
The whole floor was full of people, and we could hardly see the stage from where we stood. We figured the crowd would move around once the artists started performing.
The night started off with a performance from Shamir, a young artist who I had never heard of before. He entered the stage and immediately got the audience’s attention with his high pitched voice. Shamir sang a few songs from his debut album Ratchet, including his most popular single, “On the Regular.”
After Shamir there was a 30 minute wait; you could feel the anticipation growing in the crowd. Then, the lights dimmed and screams echoed throughout the audience as Marina finally stepped on stage.
All at once, the crowd ran forward as close as it could possibly get to the pop singer-songwriter. Running forward as well, we were frustrated to find that our new spots were even worse; Marina was out of sight.
Marina split her show into three parts, one for each of her three albums or “eras.” She started by playing a few songs from The Family Jewels, which were vocally pleasing although we could not see who was singing them.
Leaving the tight crowd for the wings of the ballroom, we could finally see Marina start to perform songs from the next era, Electra Heart.
Marina had changed outfits from a fluorescent purple jumpsuit and cherry headpiece to a neon pink latex jumpsuit and cape. Lyrics and pop art flashed on the stage behind her as she performed two of her biggest hits, “Primadonna Girl” and “How to be a Heartbreaker.”
For her last era, Froot, she donned a sparkling blue catsuit. She sang most songs from the album including the single “Immortal,” which featured poignant frames from her music video.
Then, after a mere hour and a half, Marina thanked the crowd and walked off stage, but the show was far from over. The crowd chanted encore until she returned to the stage with a small piano. She then played a beautiful, stripped down version of her second single off the album, “Happy.”
But she was not finished with the surprises just yet. For her final encore song, she played my favorite song off the album, “Blue” in an all out performance set to neon lights.
Although it got off to a rough start, the concert was both entertaining and vocally stunning. I can not wait to go to her next show, but maybe a little earlier next time.
