live music
live review
ELLIE GOULDING
Great Hall, Cardiff University Students Union, Thurs 10 Oct
words HELEN LOCK photo SIMON AYRE
The first time I saw Ellie Goulding play in Cardiff was a few years back,
before she reached the level of fame she holds today. A shy, unassuming
blonde girl, hiding behind her hair as she played to a small pub crowd;
despite her lack of stage chat and overflowing charisma, you could tell this
girl was something special.
Fast forward several years to last Thursday. We start with a support set
from ‘special guest’ Lulu James, who despite having a strong voice lacked
the likeability factor that’s so important to be able to engage with the
crowd. To be fair though, I do always feel sorry for warm-up acts: rarely
does the majority of the audience really want to see them.
Anyway, back to the main event. As the band began to play the opening notes,
the Ellie who came on stage at the Great Hall was a far cry from the last
time I’d seen her perform. When the lights came up she launched onto the
stage, opening with Figure 8 and following on with Ritual without pausing
for breath. It took those two songs for me to get my head around the fact that
the tiny figure on stage was producing the most incredible sound. Several
more songs followed in the same vein; the focus f ??????????????????????)???????????%????????????????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????????????????)???????
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