Credit: Scott Sandberg
Like many up-and-coming singers, Britain’s Ellie Goulding spent the early days of her career as an opening act. She supported big-name artists such as John Mayer, Passion Pit and even U2. Now headlining arenas and touring with a production that includes a live band and dancers, she’s become the main event and has to captivate a crowd for an entire 90 minutes.

She’s not quite there yet.

Playing last night to close to 4,000 fans at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica (the show had been downsized from the Wolstein Center), Goulding showed off her tremendous vocal power and even displayed a certain amount of range in material. You can see a slideshow of photos from the concert here.

The set varied from acoustic ballads such as “Devotion” to club anthems like “Outside” and “Lights.” She gutted it out despite temperatures in the low fifties (“If you fancy weather like this every day of the year, come to England,” she joked at one point). Goulding carried herself with plenty of confidence and regularly engaged the audience with anecdotes, but constant wardrobe changes and shifts in tempo resulted in an uneven performance.

Having a live band supporting her was a plus — heavy percussion distinguished “Goodness Gracious,” a track that Goulding delivered with plenty of energy, frantically whipping her long blonde hair in the air. Hammering drums gave “Lost and Found” a Fleetwood Mac-like quality, and the sparse intro to “Lights” simply featured Goulding’s voice and piano, providing the song with a real immediacy.

“Figure 8” had a real edge to it and suggested that when given the right material Goulding has the ability to dig a little deeper, something that wasn’t apparent in her delivery of saccharine dance tunes such as the Calvin Harris track “I Need Your Love” and “Burn,” the song that closed the 20-song set before Goulding returned for an encore. 

This article appears in May 4-10, 2016.

Jeff has been covering the Cleveland music scene for more than 25 years now. On a regular basis, he tries to talk to whatever big acts are coming through town. And if you're in a local band that he needs to hear, email him at jniesel@clevescene.com.

One reply on “Brit Singer Ellie Goulding Launches Summer Concert Season at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica”

  1. One of the more famous “downsizing” shows was the Jaco Pastorius Big Band and their high energy show making a switch from the Front Row Theater to the Agora Ballroom. The 4-1-1 concerning the late announcement included signage at the Front Row to get fans redirected to East 24th Street.

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