Written by: Jacob Daniels
Photographed by: Danica Robinson
I had never ventured into Marina’s music, or even her genre, before I was given the opportunity to cover her. The Welsh singer-songwriter has a very extensive catalog and a pop career spanning 15 years. Needless to say, I was very impressed with Marina’s concert at the Franklin Music Hall on Wednesday night.
It is clear from the get-go that Marina has a very clear and passionate fanbase. It is also important to understand the Franklin Music Hall. The building, located just off the Ben Franklin Bridge in Philly, fits about 2,500 people. Originally, it was once part of the General Electric Switchgear Plant and was converted into a concert hall in 1995. The venue itself is honestly pretty small and reminds me very much of a medium-sized club. The whole venue is one room roughly the size of a high school gymnasium, maybe even smaller. Tonight, it was packed very tightly and it was hard to move around. You could also feel the energy radiating around the room. It was hard to describe, but people were excited.
It’s not hard to understand why Marina’s music draws such a passionate crowd. Her albums are very much conceptualized. She creates worlds in her music almost like an artist paints a picture, or how a director films a movie. There’s a clear narrative behind most of her albums, including her latest one, “Princess of Power,” which came out in June of this year.
This album specifically is very meaningful and important for Marina, as during the production of this album she was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis, a type of chronic illness that affects sleep and memory. The album mainly focuses on Marina learning to come to terms with this illness, and she further stated that while prioritizing healing was “demanding a lot of [her] energy and attention,” it was necessary in order to “get back to [her] creative life again.”
The album is, of course, a story of not just Marina learning to cope with this, but it’s a narratively dense, almost theatrical, genre-blending experience set to an ’80s arcade background.
Most of her albums and music also focus heavily on women empowerment and tackle LGBTQ+ themes, while also just being generally fun to dance to. Honestly, for someone who hasn’t really forayed into quite this style of music, her style definitely reminds me right off the bat of Chappell Roan. Her voice reminds me a bit of Lorde, with the same type of theatrical creativity of My Chemical Romance. I mean, listening to one of her albums is quite literally like stepping into a new world for 45 minutes. When the artist can affect the listener like that, they must be doing something right.
I found it really interesting that Marina is supposedly a fan of the late Daniel Johnston, who is personally one of my biggest inspirations. Fans dressed up as princesses, characters and alter egos from their favorite Marina albums. It really was a very unique experience and unlike any concert I’ve been to yet.
The opener for the show, Mallrat, is an Australian singer who I was familiar with. I’ve actually known her songs “Charlie” and “Groceries” since middle school. Her newer stuff is completely different than the songs she made at the start of her career. The closest way to describe her now would be like a more dreamy PinkPantheress. Nonetheless, she put on a really great set. It was mostly a DJ set with her friend Alice playing the tunes.
Mallrat really brought the energy and she seemed to have a great time performing. She was really getting down and seemed to be floating along with her music. The one thing I noticed was she didn’t perform any of the older hits I was familiar with, but nonetheless, her newer stuff really grew on me.
Her production and songwriting are very visual and dreamy. It almost reminded me a bit of shoegaze at times, but with electronic production. She also performed an amazing cover of “Radio” by Lana Del Rey, which really got the crowd going. “Something for Somebody” and “Wish on an Eyelash” also were standouts from her set, both really synth-driven, with dreamy production and really cool drum patterns.
Another thing to note is just how loud the bass and 808s are in the Franklin Music Hall. The sound system in such a small place is breathtaking and vibrates your whole body.
After Mallrat’s set, there was about a 30-minute break until Marina came on at 8:55 p.m. The crowd was quite possibly the loudest I think I have ever heard, which is crazy considering the concerts I’ve experienced over the years. The screams bounce off the sound walls in the hall and really come straight back at you.
Marina’s set was just like her albums, conceptually structured, all with an ’80s arcade theme. There were six parts with about two to three songs each, all forming a narrative story. The six levels were: Star Fields, The Heartbreaker, The Cocoon, Digital Fantasies, Party Paradiso, and Keys to the Castles.
While being a narrative, it was also a giant tribute to Marina’s whole catalog, as she played songs and hits from every part of her career. She, like Mallrat, really brought the energy and you could tell that she is very much a natural performer. Instantly, the crowd was captivated and in for the ride. Throughout the hour-and-a-half set, the energy never once seemed to wind down. The screen behind her lit up with Galaga-like arcade visuals. The whole experience was something I don’t think I have ever experienced before.
Some standouts from the set were songs like “Are You Satisfied?” a classic in her catalog from her very first album. The song, while on the surface seems like an upbeat ballad, tackles themes involving internal conflict between societal pressures for success and a journey to find true fulfillment and happiness.
Another song that got the crowd going was one of, if not her most popular song, “Primadonna,” which honestly is a song that makes you want to get up and dance. It is important to mention how cool the drums are in these songs, some of the patterns genuinely impressed me, and I think it is something that gets overlooked a lot of the time in her work.
Another song that really caught my ear was “Bubblegum Bitch,” which again is a very unique, synth-driven pop ballad that makes you want to get up and dance.
Despite never listening to this artist before, I ended up having a great time, and I do very much recommend seeing Marina live if you ever get the chance. The energy is truly incredible and honestly hard to describe. It truly surprised me and took me on a journey I never expected to go on.
