NME Radar Tour
Where: Academy 3 Manchester, Manchester
When: Monday 28th September
Marina and the Diamonds stole the show when she visited Manchester’s Academy 3 as part of the NME Radar Tour.
Despite not being top of the bill, Marina blew the crowd away with the sheer raw energy, stage presence and stirring power of her music. She is one act who will undoubtedly leave this tour with a great many more fans.
The NME Radar Tour is traditionally billed as a line-up of pop’s brightest future hit-makers but, it has to be said, both Yes Giantess and Local Natives, the first two acts on the bill, failed to impress.
Local Natives can be lumped is the dreamy-folk genre and had good energy on stage but the kind of music they play can and has been done a lot better. Check them out if you want but Noah and the Whale, Johnny Flynn and Mumford and Sons do a far better job of this kind of genre.
Next on the bill came Marina – and she absolutely rinsed it. She brought rock opera back to life when she graced the stage. A mix of arrogance, musical skill and prowess, Kate Bush-esq energy, and acrobatic rocky-horrorish vocals made for a great show.
The power behind the choruses of ‘Seventeen’ and ‘I Am Not a Robot’ had likenesses to the heavenly crescendos used by ABBA and Queen and really gave the songs some emotion. And, yeah I know you hate ABBA and Queen but the aggression behind Marina’s performance is definitely a sight to behold so open your mind.
She also did a cover of Late of the Pier’s ‘Space And The Woods’ which was done excellently in her own style. Definitely go and get her first release ‘Mowgli’s Road’, which is out on the 2nd November, it’s going to be worth it.
Finishing off the gig were Golden Silvers, who have rose to notoriety since winning Glastonbury Festival 2008's New Talent competition.
Their performance of ‘True No. 9 Blues (True Romance)’ was good and despite some technical difficulties they came across well. The only issue with this band was that their on-stage predecessors overshadowed them. Golden Silvers music is a mix of New York disco and vocals not to dissimilar from 80s Morrisey – but that can be said of a lot of bands over the past few years.
All in all, this year’s tour had some ups and downs but in Marina I definitely think a star has been born.
Words: Will Astbury
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