Mariana Brings Ancient Dreams to Austin

Marina’s March 4th Austin tour date brought a glamorous night of powerful performance, colorful visuals, and bold music. Touring on her 2021 album, Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land (ADIAML), she truly embodied the timeless feeling of this release- her hypnotic sound and visuals both reminisce on vintage time periods while speaking of the potential for future improvement and change.

While her 2019 Love + Fear tour emphasized ethereal softness, incorporating delicate fabrics and graceful backup dancers, ADIAML featured an edgier side of Marina, with femme-fatale inspired outfits and dramatic dancing. Opening with the ADIAML title track, Marina sang, “I am the observer, I’m a witness of life / I live in the space between the stars and the sky,” disregarding her old desire for recognition and instead emphasizing her greater goals in life. This divine-femine attitude continued into fan favorite “Froot” and new empowerment anthem “Man’s World” before she transitioned to throwback tracks from 2010s The Family Jewels.

Fans screamed classic lines through an updated, piano-led version of “Are You Satisfied?”- a track which made a slight reappearance in 2019, but a full comeback during this tour- before hearing the treasured staples “I am Not a Robot” and “Oh No!”

Peppering the setlist with a total of seven new songs, Marina carried themes of feminist empowerment, emotional maturity, and connection to nature. In “Purge the Poison,” she sang with opener Pussy Riot about world renewal while larger-than-life, upbeat instrumentals prepared for a slowed-down segment of the show. The following songs would call back to Marina’s more melancholy releases, but took on a new light in the context of her matured perspective, feeling like a symbol of growth.

To finish the night, Marina performed three top-charting songs: “How to be a Heartbreaker,” “Bubblegum Bitch,” and “Primadonna,” bursting with energy and enchanting the crowd. Until next time, Marina left Austin with a memorable night packed with classic favorites and enriched by her evolved sound.