Marina Shines Bright in Minneapolis

Marina, best known as her former stage name Marina and the Diamonds, brought her Love + Fear tour to the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis. With contemporary backup dancers and incredible fashion sense, Marina had this Twin Cities crowd wrapped around her finger.

Her latest album, which features production from Lorde and Taylor Swift producer Joel Little, has the makings of a pop masterpiece. Divided into two discs, one called Love and the other Fear, she presents these themes with fields of emotion and strong lyricism. This translated perfectly into her live performance.

Marina and one of her dancers during Handmade Heaven. Photo by Dylan Novacek.

Starting off the show on a dramatic note, Marina came to stage with the opening track off Love + Fear, “Handmade Heaven.” Her backup dancers took the stage with brilliant choreography that would continue through almost every song. Often they would even double as backup singers.

Energy rose quickly as she went into fan favorites “Hollywood” and “Primadonna” back-to-back. The highlight of the sequence was seeing the fans engage with the pop star as they finished her iconic lyric, “Actually, my name’s Marina.”

Marina performing in Minneapolis. Love + Fear. — Photography by Dylan Novacek

I am more familiar with her first two albums, so natural highlights for me came when she performed older songs. Despite not being as well acquainted with the new tracks, I was still able to fully be immersed in them thanks to her stage presence and spellbinding dancers.

Out of all her new songs, encore track “End of the Earth” truly took the stage by storm with its high drama and epic choreography.

MARINA and the Diamonds, Minneapolis — Photography by Dylan Novacek.

The show perfectly balanced high energy with intimacy throughout the performance. Whether it was the sass of “Bubblegum Bitch” or the emotion of “Teen Idle,” there was never a dull moment.

Opening the show was an independent group called LPX. The lead singer, Lizzie, was incredibly excited to be on this tour. Her performance was an absolute treat. While some openers tend to phone it in, LPX performed as stars on the rise.

Lizzie of LPX, Performing in Minneapolis. Photography by Dylan Novacek.

Since this performance was at the Orpheum, a traditionally seated venue, most fans were sitting and enjoying their set. However, toward the end, everyone was on their feet. Winning over new fans left and right, Lizzie and company brought a performance worthy of a Marina tour.

The highlight of their set was their track entitled “Might Not Make It Home.” Getting the audience to sing along was incredibly impressive. After listening to them some more I highly recommend their track “Global Warming” which was released last month.

LPX, Performing in Minneapolis. Photography by Dylan Novacek.

Just a side note: This was LPX’s final stop on this tour. For the rest of the tour, BROODS will be opening for her and I am insanely jealous. I Loved LPX, but BROODS is awesome. Their newest album, Don’t Feed The Pop Monster, is in my top five albums of the year. Also, it is produced by Joel Little as well; that guy is a hitmaker.

I loved every bit of this show. My fiance is a huge fan of Marina’s second album, Electra Heart, and has been converting me into a massive fan for a while. Getting the chance to share this show with her was so much fun.

Fans of MARINA wearing diamond hats I guess? Photo by Dylan Novacek.

From singing along with superfans who dressed for the occasion to being able to see the incredible dances and more, Marina truly shined during her Minneapolis performance.