Ellie Goulding review: A recipe of finely measured pop, rock and EDM

Ellie Goulding

Qudos Bank Arena, October 7

★​★★½

Take a dollop of pop, a slab of EDM, and a smattering of rock, and you should just about have the right portions for a two-hour set with Ellie Goulding.

Emerging on stage amid a flurry of gold curtains at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney's Homebush, Goulding was a flash of genres; in black-spangled hot pants paired with thick-set Dr Martens boots.

It was the 79th and second-last show for the English singer-songwriter on her global Delirium tour - though at no point did it quite feel as though she, or the crowd, had reached a state of delirium.

Nevertheless, the 29-year-old kept the energy high for an audience that was half thirty-somethings and half adoring tweens, sporting handmade "I heart Ellie Goulding signs."

(To the mum who assured her eight-year-old that, yes, Goulding would see her sign in the crowd - you did the right thing.)

After a tame opening in the form of the pop-funk Aftertaste, it felt like Goulding really arrived when she next launched into Holding on For Life, a song that showcases the full range of her voice.

Hers is a set of pipes known for being somewhat delicate and breathy, so in the giant arena setting, her sky-high soprano melodies were sometimes lost amid the whoosh of smoke machines and pounding electronic beats.

Flanked by a troupe of tatted-up male dancers, Goulding made good use of the stage, slotting neatly into their tight choreography.  

As she flitted from formation-dancing to playing the drums, acoustic then electric guitar, all while belting out a tune, it was clear the singer knew her way around a music room. 

Possibly Goulding's biggest asset was her ability to pitch her voice at what should have been awkward intervals, but instead were almost always smooth transitions up and down, showcased best in the ballad Devotion.

It was a quieter moment that had the arena positively luminous from the en masse-wave of iPhone torches in the crowd - you could have read the pages of a book.

Less convincing were her forays into moments of head-banging rock, unexpectedly spliced with dirty synth sounds and EDM beat drops.

But for all the rock moments she managed to squeeze in, this was still a pop extravaganza, and that meant all the requisite costumes and trimmings with it. 

Though perhaps in this case, less would have been more, as Goulding's costume changes meant long gaps either side, where the stage was left to dancers or pre-recorded video clips of floor-to-ceiling Goulding on towering screens in the background.

Over the two-hour set the crowd ebbed and flowed, though they were most stimulated when blasted with EDM favourites Outside and I Need Your Love.

As an artist whose YouTube videos have been watched north of 1.2 billion times, Goulding has benefited from the iPhone generation.

But I would hazard a guess that, at her own shows, she would be happy if her fans left their phones at the door.

It's a common request from artists today, to ask the crowd for one song "just you and me, no phones", and Goulding delivered her own plea for phones to be put away.

It went mostly unanswered, so there will be an odd irony in those videos on phones, of Goulding asking people not to film on phones.