Who knew such a powerful voice could some from someone so petite? But at Southampton Guildhall on November 16th , there was no doubt that Ellie Goulding could hold her own as she belted out her classic hits at as well as some more obscure numbers; her unique, caramel tones filling the Guildhall much to the delight of the pumped crowd. With an audience of mainly screaming young girls, there was definitely a lot of love in the room for Ellie as the hyped audience stomped their feet in anticipation, the songstress appearing on stage amidst shouts of ‘I love you Ellie’.
Not only did she wow the audience with her impeccable vocal talent but, distinguishing herself well and truly from any mindless manufactured pop act, Miss Goulding serenaded the audience with her guitar, as well as being accompanied by two drum-kits on stage; one for her drummer and one for herself. She even at one point she seemed to play the drums, guitar and sing all at the same time! The multi-talented, multi-tasking singer put on a performance that placed her decidedly in the realms of ‘musician’, taking her further than just a ‘pop act’. Reminiscent of a classy ‘one-man-band’, Ellie showed any pop starlet wannabes exactly how it should be done.
However, it seemed that none of her success has gone to her head as she was extremely polite and hospitable to the screaming crowd asking frequently ‘Is everyone alright?’, and making sure to get the whole audience involved. Ellie made no qualms about thanking her fans and repeatedly admitted how grateful she was. She even felt the need to create a video, which played out to the audience during a costume change, that opened with the words ‘I am so grateful’ for the whole audience to see. Although a little cringeworthy, Ellie seemed genuine in her thankfulness towards her fans, appearing to be grounded despite her quick success.
Predictably, her hits ‘Guns and Horses’ and ‘Starry-Eyed’ were definite crowd-pleasers, yet as a testament to her success, the audience still made sure to sing their hearts out to her less well-known album tracks. She also included some covers, with her rendition of Elton John’s ‘Your Song’(now a chart hit!) being a particular crowd favourite, going down far better than her cover of obscure band Midlake and their song, she had to explain, about the 17th century countryside!
If perhaps a static start, Ellie loosened up towards the end of the show, feeding off the energy of her audience and bouncing around the stage with her iconic messy, blonde hair swishing wildly as she went. Returning for her encore wearing a semi see-through body and jeans in a laid-back sultry look, she asked the audience ‘Are you feeling sexy?’ and commenced to hip-wiggle throughout her rendition of Starry-Eyed, for which the crowd went mad.
The audience’s extreme response to the fairly new star was incredible, and in a performance that showcased her range of talents and her staggering vocal ability, whilst still being fun and original, her popularity can only be destined to reach stellar heights.
