Review: Ellie Goulding

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IT was an effective way to kick off her first major arena tour; sporting an outfit that appeared to show one of Britain's biggest female artists completely nude underneath a body suit of black panel strips.

The wow! factor of Ellie Goulding's stage wear was easily matched by the show she put on for Nottingham fans at the Capital FM Arena on Wednesday night.

The 27-year-old singer behind the hits Burn, Anything Could Happen and Starry Eyed, said how she'd not performed in such a large venue before but it was clear from this tour opener that arenas suit her.

A beautiful indigo beam lit up the stage, revealing a backdrop of huge squares, reflecting the cover of her latest album, Halcyon Days. Throughout the show, beautiful graphics and photos flooded the screens - including one of her mum, as the singer would later tweet: "Thanks Nottingham! Buzzing! My mum loved her cameo on screen."

It was Figure 8, with which Goulding opened the show in that aforementioned 'nude' bodysuit, over which she wore a glittery hooded bomber jacket.

After Ritual, came latest single, Goodness Gracious, the first proper singalong of the night.

For each, Goulding displayed remarkable energy, using every inch of the stage, suggestively grinding to those in the front few rows and looking like she was having a blast.

The set was, as expected, all the hits and more from her two studio albums, the No. 1 Lights and No. 2 Halcyon, along with the extra songs from the reissued 'deluxe' editions, Bright Lights and Halcyon Days. As a result it was a mostly uplifting, dancey vibe but with the more sedate and touching ballads thrown in, such as How Long Will I Love You? and her cover of Elton John's Your Song.

It is easy for performers to become consumed by the need to deliver a well-rehearsed set at an arena show, sticking to the structured routines that have been worked on for weeks in advance. But Goulding didn't appear overwhelmed and relaxed into it,

chatting to as many in the crowd as she could, sharing jokes and encouraging them to light up their phones.

As she broke into I Need Your Love, she shouted for us to "dance like you've never danced before", joking that she wasn't much of a dancer herself.

It was Burn, her first UK No.1 single, that closed the show.

"I really do have the best fans." she said. "You have all stuck by me from the beginning and I can't thank you enough."

There was only one way she could have done that and that's exactly what she did; by putting on a show to remember.