Sophie Ellis-Bextor review: An exhilarating evening of reinvention

Glittering: Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who is expecting her fifth child
STEVE GILLETT / LIVEPIX
Liz Aubrey4 October 2018

Attending a Sophie Ellis-Bextor gig doesn’t normally begin with a 30-piece orchestra warming up at the Royal Festival Hall, but then this was no ordinary concert.

Not only was it her biggest London headline show to date, the event was also the live debut of Ellis-Bextor’s seventh studio album — a greatest-hits ensemble where her classic disco sounds have all received an orchestral reimagining.

A bold reworking of her biggest hit, Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love), opened the set, the original virtually unrecognisable. Backed by a mellifluous orchestra, dramatic strings dominated verses while busy brass sections gave new life to the hit from 2000.

More startling reworkings followed as Ellis-Bextor shimmied in a glittered disco cape to Me And My Imagination and Love Is A Camera.

Both took on new, enigmatic airs thanks to wistful sonics, haunting violins and whimsical instrumentation — at times, they felt like part of the soundtrack to a dream. Ellis-Bextor conversed warmly with the audience, her enthusiasm proving infectious throughout. “You all look really lovely… have you made the effort for me or for the Royal Festival Hall?” she joked, her fans making it clear it was the former.

A quick costume change punctuated a short break before Ellis-Bextor re-emerged, buoyant and ready to disco. “Have you all got your tickets to the disco station?” she laughed. An energetic medley of Take Me Home, Young Hearts Run Free and Love Is You followed.

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After a first half which saw the audience remain, in Ellis-Bextor’s words, “ever so polite”, the second part of the show witnessed all the concert-goers at the Royal Festival Hall rise to their feet and dance underneath a huge glittering disco ball.

The classics Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer) and Murder On The Dancefloor wowed, before A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed closed, the song neatly marrying the two worlds of the orchestral and the disco.

This was a joyous, exhilarating evening of reinvention and reminiscence. Many left the concert hoping that Sophie Ellis-Bextor will open with an orchestra again.

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