The first thing that genuinely surprised me about arriving at The Empire to see Ellie Goulding was the fantastically varied  make-up of the audience. The sell out crowd was made up of men, women, children, students, I’m pretty sure I spotted a few domestic animals by the end. Perhaps it was a tad presumptuous of me to expect an audience made up almost entirely of try-hard college girls with try hard ‘indie’ sensibilities and that can only be to the credit of Ms Goulding and her broad appeal. In a night of surprises the reality was much different. It would therefore appear that I am officially getting old.

In a high octane opening Ellie ripped through ‘Under the Sheets’, the big beats of the song aided and abetted by Ellie pounding a drum at the front of the stage as if to mobilise the troops rallying in front of her. The intensity of the performance from the get-go really impressed, tracks such as ‘This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)’ and ‘Wake me up’ sound far more vibrant, Ellie’s impressively energetic backing band breathing life into previously sleepy sounding album tracks. The Empire provided a perfect setting for her show, the close, intimate surroundings really seemed to foster a connection between artist and audience.

Mid-set the tempo changed, the band slipped away but Ellie remained alone, defiantly clutching an acoustic guitar. It has to be said she is more of a competent guitarist (another pleasant surprise) and the stripped back sound really allowed the Brit Award winner to showcase her unique voice, which is without doubt the most potent weapon in her armoury. The genuine feeling she piles into her songs add real weight to lyrics that may otherwise appear slightly lightweight in places. Her reoccurring themes of love and loss, when coupled with the delicate voice, lead you to worry that her fragile voice may just crack under the sheer bloody weight of it all. It never quite breaks though, never quite gives in. It really is a powerful tool and a wonderfully lilting cover of Temper Trap’s ‘Sweet Disposition’ goes down a storm.

The big guns are then wheeled out (along with the re-emergence of her band) and her fans get what they came for. ‘The Writer’ gets the full sing-along treatment and ‘SaltSkin’ goes down a storm. The encore ‘Starry Eyed’ also benefited from the beefed-up live sound and the crowd lapped it up as one would expect from her biggest hit.

All-in-all Ellie Goulding has far more to offer than you might have otherwise have thought, she certainly shattered some of my illusions about her. In the flesh she is charismatic, intense and far more versatile than she comes across on record. With one #1 album already under her belt there may just be quite some more to come, and if it does then this time I won’t be quite so surprised.

Thanks to Rhys Tate for this wonderful review. Hopefully it will be the first of many. Also thanks to Ash at the Empire for all his support. There are a load of great gigs coming up at The Empire  in the next few months;

Mon 22nd Nov
JOE McKELDERRY
Tickets £12.50 plus booking fee
Doors 7.00pm
14 plus show

Fri 3rd Dec
THE BLACKOUT
Tickets £12.50 plus booking fee
Doors 7.00pm
14 plus show

Wed 8th Dec
PROFESSOR GREEN
Tickets £12.50 plus booking fee
Doors 7.00pm
14 plus show

Thurs 9th Dec
SETH LAKEMAN
Tickets £17 plus booking fee
Doors 7.00pm
14 plus show

Tues 8th  Feb
MURDERDOLLS
BLACK VIEL BRIDES
Tickets £15 plus booking fee
Doors 7.30pm
14 plus show

Fri 11th Feb
FEEDER
Tickets £20 plus booking fee
Doors 7.00pm
14 plus show

LINKS:

ELLIE GOULDING   http://elliegoulding.com/

THE EMPIRE       http://www.theempire.co.uk/

By peter on November 3, 2010