There has been no shortage of great shows lately, and Thursday, May 5th was another great one! It was also the day I accomplished one of my goals for the year, photographing a show at the Xcel Energy Center! Ellie Goulding made a stop there on her “Delirium” tour. Joining her at this stop was Bebe Rexha and Years & Years.
Right before every show I get that nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach, but this night it was quite a bit worse! Shooting at the Xcel Energy Center was amazing, the only difference was not being able to catch the whole show and get a wide venue shot during the performances. It was three songs and back to the lobby for this show. It was definitely an experience to remember though.
Bebe Rexha was up first and I’ll admit the three songs were a blur. She came out and the crowd went wild! The band members behind her weren’t well lit, but they did an amazing job. Her second song, “I’m Gonna Show You Crazy”, really got the crowd excited. Looking back at some of the videos that other were posting during the show, Bebe Rexha put on a fantastic performance!
Next up was Years & Years. Again, it was most of the light and attention on the singer and the rest of the band members were dimly lit in the background. I was not very familiar with the music, but everyone singing along showed me that the crowd was happy that Years & Years was performing at this stop.
Now, it was time for Ellie Goulding to do her thing. The crowd had grown steadily throughout the night, and although the Xcel wasn’t packed, it was certainly a great turnout for a Thursday show! Using the entire stage area, Ellie came out took the crowd by storm. Once the gold curtains were pulled away, the crowd went absolutely wild with excitement. There were some in the front row that had made signs for Ellie and I believe one of them even lit up! I’ve been listening to Ellie Goulding for some time, but seeing her live was an experience that I’m glad I didn’t miss. Although I was only there for the first three songs, I saw a video of her paying a tribute to Prince by singing her version of “When The Doves Cry” right before she sang “Lights”. I’m going to have to make sure to catch her entire performance if she is in the area again.
It was a night to remember and a check off of my goals list, not to mention I got to see part of a really spectacular show! If you are reading this and you went to the show, leave a comment telling me what your favorite part of the night was!! I know I’ll be looking through more videos of the show to catch as much as I can!
As always, get out and support live music and I’ll see you out there!
