i'm obsessed with the mess that's america

 almost three weeks ago now, i had one of the best days of my life. only exactly one week after the worst (hobos, chili, breakdown) there was a beautiful day. a beautiful day in d.c. complete with one of my best friends and the most amazing concert i've ever been to.

be warned, picture heavy.

we took the subway, wandered through d.c.'s (very very tiny - about one square block) chinatown, meandered the art gardens..

 (i am wearing a thrifted denim dress i dip-dyed (with bleach?) the sleeves, a belt, and payless wedges. Kate is wearing one of my favorite dresses, a pastel chiffon beauty from kimchi blue and her own shoes from ???)

we explored and explored and then found a carousel.

then headed to the 9:30 club for Marina & the Diamonds/Ra Ra Rasputin (but mostly Marina; they just opened for her with a short set of about 7 songs). all of the following pictures are unedited in any way.

if you've never been to the 9:30 club i really recommend it: they have great drinks, sell merch, and have this room of benches and chairs with soft blue lights under the benches that look so cool.

her awesome keyboard with a beaded american flag. she's welsh, and the tour is called the burger queen tour. she has a few songs just about america and stuff.

she is a polish girl in ameri-ca, tall, tan, hot, blonde called anya. i asked why would you wanna be a hollywood wife, 'because i don't wanna end up living on a dive on Vine... do anything for a dime.. looking for the golden lie. hollywood infected your brain - you wanted kissing in the rain... i'm obsessed with the mess that's america.

later, she quips:

i fight security makin' plays for me as soon as i touch down in old LA he says, 'Oh. My. God. You look just like Shakira, no no, you're Catherine Zeta -- actually, my name's Marina!

she pops out in a neon yellow high-waisted trouser, huge pom pom earrings, and a floral sportsbra with holes cut out on the boobs. i forget what kind of pattern was under the first bra. i don't recognize her at first -- her hair is chopped short, textured, and a light brown? she says that her drummer cut it the night before; he cuts his girlfriend's too. then she changes, and we get a pretty light blue and white SEQUINED striped pajama set, complete with clear plastic heels trimmed with fluff.

the lighting of the show  was consistently amazing, and you can just tell even from the bad picture that she's just a natural performer. i hope you can tell how close i was -- pretty much in the front row, but there were these two dads with their 7 year old daughters and they WOULD NOT MOVE.  everyone around them politely politely asked. we were all annoyed that they were taking up spaces from the real fans.

but then he lip synced the lyrics to her last song.

...ahem. anyways, last number is hollywood. she glides onto the stage in a sequined american flag jumpsuit with her felt burger in hand.

amazing. not to mention she had these great red and white striped heels. i want them.

then me and kate went outside the club after buying a tee and ra ra rasputin's CD to find a mob. we wait. we get yelled at by bouncers. we wait. MARINA COMES OUT.

she's a sweetheart. not to mention beautiful. she got to me and Kate, signed both of our shirts, I HUGGED HER and touched her stomach (...i'm a creeper what can i say), and chatted with her for about thirty seconds about how amazing she is and we drove 3 hours to see her (1 1/2, i doubled it for dramatic effect), etc. She is stunning, not to mention her voice is amazing. She is just as good in concert, if not better than the CD.

i fucking love Marina & the Diamonds.

--