Live at the Marquee: Young and old all fall for Lana Del Rey

Given that it must have been a hellish week for Marquee promoter Peter Aiken, at least he might take a smidgen of solace from last night’s sold-out show for Lana del Rey. It’s a reminder that there really is life after Garth.

Not that the 5,000-strong crowd — encompassing a wide range of ages — who paid about €50 each for tickets here could recoup the gazillions that were on the table in the poker at Croker, but the closing night of this year’s series of concerts underlined what a success the Cork enterprise has been.

The strongest line-up of the event’s 10-year history drew decent crowds, the weather has played ball, and the Pixies were just one of the many acts who more than rose to the occasion at the venue to leave another legacy of sweet summer memories.

And Ms Del Rey? The 28-year-old delivered over the course of an 80-minute set, but her downbeat studio-based sound was never going to be a match for the spacious circus tent.

But there was an awful lot of love for her from a crowd who squealed with delight at every gesture and whose tendencies for a singalong helped make up for the occasional shortfalls in Del Rey’s voice.

Wearing an orange dress with black belt, and backed by a four-piece band, she played a set comprised of tracks from her two studio albums, Born to Die and this year’s Ultraviolence, as well as the Paradise EP.

Even when she’s putting across a lyric like “Come on baby, let’s ride... I know your wife, and she wouldn’t mind”, Del Rey doesn’t try to inhabit the celebratory raunch space of the likes of Madonna or Beyonce. This feels like the work of a far more introverted and troubled soul.

The album title tracks were particularly well received. At the end of ‘Ultraviolence’, she left the stage and climbed to the pit in front, signing autographs and posing for selfies for what seemed like the entire front row.

Crowd banter was at a minimum, but she did compliment those present on their singing and also draped herself in an Irish flag for ‘West Coast’.

The energy did flag at times, especially for the quieter moments, but it was no surprise that ‘Video Games’ received some of the loudest cheers of the night.

And that magnificent breakthrough hit also helped mark the ideal end to another fine year Live at the Marquee.