Reviewed by Adam Williams
Marina and the Diamonds arrived in Newcastle for an intimate gig at Digital’s Other Rooms. Hotly tipped as a star of 2010, her recent single Hollywood stormed into top 20 and she’s become something of a Radio 1 favourite in recent months, no doubt boosting her popularity.
Early in the gig she admits that only 12 people showed up to her gig in the city last year, this time the venue is packed full. Romping through her debut album, she demonstrated her cultured vocals and quirky lyrics to an adoring crowd, kicking off with one of her stronger album tracks, Girls.
Performances of I Am Not A Robot and Shampain also impressed while a break in the middle of the set gave her a chance to truly show her vocal talents with an acoustic performance of Numb. The backing band returned as she zipped through the rest of her EP, and left stage leaving the audience wanting more. Sadly there wasn’t even time for an encore, merely the impression that the venue owners wanted the crowd to move on as quickly as possible.
Her eccentricity is often reminiscent of Kate Nash but her more varied themes set her apart from the pack. Unlike Nash and the often compared Florence and the Machine she has the likeable personality to match. No doubt her next visit to the city will be in a much bigger venue.
4/5
Showing posts with label Adam Williams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adam Williams. Show all posts
Monday, 1 March 2010
Friday, 5 February 2010
The Outside-In Festival @ The Sage (3)
Reviewed by Adam Williams
T4’s Outside-In festival brought together some of the biggest acts around for a day of music at the iconic Sage Gateshead. Using a similar formula to T4 On The Beach, each act performed 3 or 4 of their most popular songs which kept the festival moving at a fast pace but often left you a tad unsatisfied when a band had to leave the stage just as they were getting into their set.
The event began with the woeful N-Dubz wannabe Fugative but thankfully he wasn’t a sign of what was to come. I spent most of my time in Hall One where the more alternative acts were playing but still caught Pixie Lott and the Sugababes on the main stage; they wowed the young crowd with recent hits as I headed to watch the impressive Courteeners on the second stage. I’m not that big a fan of the Courteeners but they put in a strong performance and really won me over by the end of their brief set.
Local band Polarsets were the pick of the lesser known artists on the bill before the highlight of the event came as Danish pop band Alphabeat took to the stage. There was a huge influx of people from the main stage and they really brought the event to life with their popular hits The Spell and Fascination.
The fantastic Marina and the Diamonds followed, romping her way through her most well known material and the Automatic put in a solid show before headliners Lostprophets rounded off the evening with a slightly underwhelming performance.
At the same time the more chart friendly acts such as Taio Cruz, Example and N-Dubz rounded the evening off on the main stage. It was an enjoyable day which flew past, leaving everybody in the crowd wanting more.
T4’s Outside-In festival brought together some of the biggest acts around for a day of music at the iconic Sage Gateshead. Using a similar formula to T4 On The Beach, each act performed 3 or 4 of their most popular songs which kept the festival moving at a fast pace but often left you a tad unsatisfied when a band had to leave the stage just as they were getting into their set.
The event began with the woeful N-Dubz wannabe Fugative but thankfully he wasn’t a sign of what was to come. I spent most of my time in Hall One where the more alternative acts were playing but still caught Pixie Lott and the Sugababes on the main stage; they wowed the young crowd with recent hits as I headed to watch the impressive Courteeners on the second stage. I’m not that big a fan of the Courteeners but they put in a strong performance and really won me over by the end of their brief set.
Local band Polarsets were the pick of the lesser known artists on the bill before the highlight of the event came as Danish pop band Alphabeat took to the stage. There was a huge influx of people from the main stage and they really brought the event to life with their popular hits The Spell and Fascination.
The fantastic Marina and the Diamonds followed, romping her way through her most well known material and the Automatic put in a solid show before headliners Lostprophets rounded off the evening with a slightly underwhelming performance.
At the same time the more chart friendly acts such as Taio Cruz, Example and N-Dubz rounded the evening off on the main stage. It was an enjoyable day which flew past, leaving everybody in the crowd wanting more.
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