With the success of Adele and Florence + the Machine, there’s no surprise that Ellie Goulding is the latest sensation coming from the British invasion.
Goulding, performing to a sold out show on Jan. 16 at The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theater, showed what allured people to her music in the first place.
In an energetic 90 minute set, Goulding showed signs of originality that could lift her out of a beat-driven formula that got her on the map in the first place.
The opening band, St. Lucia, was good in the moment but other then that, very unforgettable. The songs were slow and could set the crowd to sleep. Everyone stayed in the same spot throughout their entire set. St. Lucia sounded great, it’s just the mellow feel and boring stage presence killed any chances of gaining a bigger fan base.
When it was time for Ellie Goulding, the crowd as woken up and is ready for the real show to begin. Goulding begin her set with heavy on mood but light on substance, not likely that anyone in the crowd would leave humming any of these tunes in your heads. The sound quality was spot on but when she decides to speak to the audience in between songs, she slurs her words, which makes it harder to decipher what she is saying.
The dance-oriented stuff dominated Goulding’s finale, a stretch that included the exuberant “Only You,” “Under the Sheets,” the shimmering pop of “Anything Could Happen” and an oddly placed cover of Elton John’s “Your Song.”
The highlight was the encore song, her hit single, “Light’s.” The crowd was shouting the lyrics back at the stage; it made it hard to hear if Goulding was even singing the song.
Overall, the concert was mediocre. The opening lacked to show they belong on this tour, but Goulding made up the slack during the second half of her set.
