Let’s hope that Marina and the Diamonds benefits from better circumstances in her next live Toronto performance. And make no mistake, there will be others. After venturing through Toronto to open for Lady Gaga and Katy Perry in the past, Marina made her Toronto debut as a featured performer on Thursday night in what was Echo Beach’s rain-soaked season opener.
In spite of a tight, entertaining, 90-minute set by the 27-year old Marina (born Diamandis), many of the nearly 5,000 fans in attendance spent the night seeking shelter or warmth, if not leaving altogether.
While it may not have been very pleasant on a beach that quickly established itself as more of a mud puddle, it was an excellent show, and those who left missed out. Marina’s strangely compelling stage presence is still somewhat at odds with her powerful, almost operatic voice, but the combination at least keeps things interesting. She is unafraid of challenging herself, as seen on high-note-hitting tracks like “I Am Not a Robot” and “Primadonna.”
Her aforementioned stage presence did not disappoint those expecting her to bring a level of Gaga-worthy quirk. Most jarring among her wardrobe choices was a wedding veil that contrasted rather sharply to her opening track, “Homewrecker.” With the venue’s sound system struggling to cope with the rain and strong winds, Marina’s clothing choices often did the trick in sustaining the entertainment value.
But opener Charli XCX seemed to have a more favourable turnout for her solid 30-minute set, in which she performed a high-energy version of “I Love It” along the way to getting the crowd warmed up (definitely more figuratively than literally).
It was a shame, then, that by the time Marina got around to her signature, show-closing hit, “How to Be a Heartbreaker,” only about 2,000 die-hards had stuck around to hear it.