Live Review

Marina and The Diamonds – Tripod, Dublin

• 28th May 2010

Marina Diamandis made a triumphant return to Ireland last night and blew away the sold out crowd in Tripod on Harcourt St. Though suffering from ‘a few too many whiskeys’ and tweeting that she was losing her voice and sounding like Tom Waits, Marina dazzled the crowd with an energetic set of her debut album ‘The Family Jewels’.

Though no stranger to our shores, this is the biggest gig Marina has headlined in Ireland to date and marks a step up from smaller venues and festivals, the sound is bigger, the crowd is more varied and the overall experience is more polished.

The gig opened with support from 18-year-old Marina-alike Spark, a solo singer from North East London. Looking like Marina’s younger sister and with the same quirky upbeat Kate Bush meets Lily Allen eccentricity, Spark won over the crowd by the end of her set. Her music is like disco-pop with an edge and first single ‘Shut Out The Moon’ will be released on iTunes on July 12th.

With a charming personality, a signature look and a set of pipes upstaging Amy Winehouse on a good day, this girl will go far with the right packaging.

After a long technical break, Ms. Diamandis stomped on stage and belted out ‘Girls’, the tune she opens almost every set with with all the energy and excitement of a Christmas morning on acid. Wearing a tight t-shirt with over sized Disney dungarees and big red sunglasses, it’s hard to ignore the star quality of this girl. Even if you don’t like her, you can’t miss or dismiss her.

Marina delighted her devoted ‘Emeralds’ (just the Irish fans, as opposed to the worldwide ‘Diamonds’ in general) with three stripped down piano numbers – the album ballad ‘Numb’, debut single ‘Obsessions’ and a down-tempo cover of 3OH!3’s ‘Starstrukk’. She even dedicated ‘The Outsider’ to anyone who considers themselves and emerald.

Despite beginning to feel the effects of constant touring, partying every night and blogging about having very little sleep, Marina was a trooper and delivered every song pitch-perfect and with all the gusto of a debut performance, as if she had everything to prove all over again.

She certainly proved she is destined to be a performer, stand-out moments of the set were new single ‘I Am Not A Robot’ sung with neon pink lipstick, lights darkened and big pink heart props, new single ‘Oh No’ and biggest single ‘Hollywood’, sung complete with her cheerleader top and American flag barely-there denim shorts hugging the singer’s perfect figure.

And finally, CUCKOO! Marina returned for an encore of fan favourite ‘Mowgli’s Road’, raised a glass of Amaretto to her beloved Dublin Emeralds and left the stage.

For more information on and to listen to Spark, log onto Myspace.com/sparkthemusic or Facebook.com/sparkthemusic