Marina & The Diamonds, 9:30 Club, Washington DC

There is no arguing with the fact that Marina Diamandis, the Welsh / Greek frontwoman for the eponymously named Marina & The Diamonds, is a rare beauty and an unabashed fashion plate. So you would expect flashy and sexy costumes from her appearances. This fetching woman in her mid-20s wrote and sang the power ballads on her cutesy-titled debut ‘The Family Jewels’ that made British teens swoon, but the real question is, can she deliver live, and in America? Washington had the chance to make this determination themselves when she and her band played for them Monday night.

Before the show, PR hand out paper ‘Oh No!’ glasses to those queuing outside the venue. Surprisingly (or possibly not to her fans in the UK), punters take these and then enthusiastically pose for each other as mobile phones flash, the photos destined for Twitter or Facebook. Such scenes would never happen, say, at a Biffy Clyro gig. Then again, this is a Marina & The Diamonds show, and these are the Marina devoted. Anything can happen.

Once inside and the band’s set time 9.30pm rolls around, loud chanting of ‘Marina! Marina! Marina!’ emanates from punters on the floor and up in the balcony. And then she appears, in neon green sunglasses and a slinky black dress that she later comments, ‘This black velvet is a bitch. It’s so hot, I want to peel my face off. But it’s worth it!’ Whistling and shouts of approval ensue from all corners of the venue: it’s clear girls and boys equally love Diamandis and her quirky vocals.

And quirky they are indeed. Her voice glides easily from pure pop, to throaty deepness that could be likened to I Blame Coco, then on to the more operatic. ‘I Am Not a Robot’ garners the first massive crowd cheers, starting softly with Diamandis’s vocals with piano backing, then soaring into the chorus, Diamandis employing one of her many stage props for the night – heart-shaped night lights – raising her hands into the air as if to make a connection with her adoring audience.

Looking into their eyes, they are spellbound. They giddily sing along to ‘Shampain’ and pogo fervently when encouraged along by their idol. She brings the house down with a two-song encore, first with an unlikely cover of 3OH3!’s ‘Starstrukk’, followed by ‘Mowgli’s Road’, featuring her cuckoo ‘yelps’.

However, one wonders how this show would go over if she wasn’t walking around in impossibly high camel-coloured heels, or hadn’t changed into a letterman jacket over a long slip dress and worn American dollar sign glasses for ‘Hollywood’. The song has lyrics of ‘I’m obsessed with the mess that’s America’, that some American YouTube users appear to have taken offence at. But judging by the reception this night, none of those detractors are present. Fashion moves fast: we’ll have to see in the future whether Marina & The Diamonds have staying power or are just a fleeting trend.