Delta Goodrem performs medley of hits during Wings of the Wild concert in Sydney
SOME people seem to have forgotten Delta Goodrem was a musician before she was a celebrity, coming from the distant era when fame required talent.
On the hometown stop on her new arena tour, Delta was reunited with “her” people; the ones who’ve been there for the whole ride and some more recent passengers. Indeed there seemed to be a lot of young fans experiencing their first concert.
Say what you like about her (anonymously, if social media is your venting outlet) but Goodrem knows how to perform and just as importantly how to connect.
Beaming on stage with the kind of joy perhaps her haters lack, Goodrem was reduced to tears when fans surprised her by holding up signs saying simply ‘Thank you’ when she was meant to launch into the chorus of hit Dear Life.
Some may find that gesture cheesy, but few local pop stars have an emotional bond with their fans like Goodrem.
The singer even stopped the show to go down into the audience when she saw a fan had collapsed.
Lost for words. Sydney, you left me totally speechless. Thank you xxxx #DearLife pic.twitter.com/83sFsYIVgD
— Delta Goodrem (@DeltaGoodrem) October 28, 2016
The female fan was stretchered out of the venue and Goodrem later told fans: “Good news, our friend is OK backstage”.
She is also the kind of musician who is seriously hands on. Everything you see and hear on the Wings of the Wild tour is her idea. There are so many ideas she’s had to shoehorn some songs into mash-ups — ballad Dear Life was merged with her Fleetwood Mac fangirl moment Touch, Out of the Blue now comes with bonus, Hey Jude.
Being back on the road, finally, is also a reminder of the power and range of her voice — particularly on Memory from Cats.
Her best album yet, this year’s Wings of the Wild, offers up her personal boundary-pushing tracks Feline, Heavy and Enough.
However it’s a night of wall to wall hits and memories — the balladry of Born to Try to the club banger Heart Hypnotic, the theatrical Mistaken Identity and anthemic number one hits In This Life, Lost Without You and Wings.
Fifteen years in, Goodrem is a pop survivor and watching her in her element on stage it’s no mystery to understand why — she’s incredibly good at her job.
info: Delta Goodrem’s Wings of the Wild tour plays Canberra’s AIS Arena on Saturday October 29, Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne on November 3, Adelaide Entertainment Centre November 5, Perth Arena November 8 and Brisbane Convention Centre November 11.
Originally published as The moment that reduced Delta to tears