Live Review: Delta Goodrem – 14th May 2025 – Hackney Empire, London, UK
5 min read
Australian pop singer Delta Goodrem may not be a household name over here in the UK but back in her homeland, Goodrem is regarded as a bit of a national pop icon. Hits like Born To Try and hook-heavy power ballad, Lost Without You put the pop beauty on the musical map and since its release from debut album, Innocent Eyes in 2003. The singer has had a steady career not just as a performer in her own right, but as the writer of songs for the likes of Celine Dion and Olivia Newton-John as well as collaborating in the studio with Tony Bennett, Michael Bolton and many others, while touring with Andrea Bocelli and, in more recent years, has collaborated with Steps icon, Claire Richards when the pair delivered the spectacular Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer cover over of No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) on Richard’s 2023 disco collection, Euphoria.
Celebrating the milestone 20th birthday of her sophomore album, Mistaken Identity, Goodrem is back in the UK, bringing her Mistaken Identity: A Night of Celebration Tour to fans who flocked to Hackney Empire to see the singer last night – the first of two back to back shows in the East London venue.
As is the design of these type of shows where an artist is re-touring a former release to celebrate such a milestone, last nights set was in most part structured around Delta performing the track listing of Mistaken Identity in exact order and arrangement of its original track listing to every fan in the venues delight. The album is a special release for the Aussie superstar and throughout the show she detailed the reasons for this being that it was crafted following the singers cancer diagnosis shortly after, and while still celebrating the incredible success of her debut record.
At a little after 8pm her band started ot take their places on stage – a total of 10 backing band members cramming their way onto the small but Instagram-worthy stage of Hackney Empire; a four-piece string section positioning themselves on an elevated section at the rear and providing the night with a gorgeous orchestral backbone – helping to lift these songs into a whole new atmospheric level than we were expecting as she dove into opening number, Out of the Blue while fans throughout the venue held lit-up blue hearts in support of their idol.
Over the course of the night, Goodrem told many stories of her journey back to full health including thank you’s to fans for their letters to the star during the dark period in her life as well as through her songwriting; emotional numbers like Be Strong (which a closing snippet of Wilson Philip’s hit Hold On capping the number), a pitch perfect performance of Fragile (complete with a snippet of Christina Aguilera’s Fighter) and a tribute to her brother on You Are My Rock.
The day she found out about her cancer diagnosis was also detailed in the touching number, Extraordinary Day which had her fans shout out ‘I love you’s’ to the singer as she delivered a masterful rendition of the highly personal number.
A surprise duet for the night saw fellow pop hitmaker, Calum Scott welcomed on stage to perform a stellar version of Almost Here. The pair seemed both equally adoring and in awe of each other as they played off each others pristine vocals and gushed over each other with hugs and compliments following the song.
The singers die hard fans were certainly present at the show with a number of them sporting quite eccentric looks including one fan that held a lot up lightening rod in the air and above a voluminous, well crafted thundercloud hat complete with lights during the starts performance of Electric Storm; quickly catching Goodrem’s attention and resulting in the singer asking the fan to approach the stage so the whole venue could see the “A+ for effort”, as Delta scored it.
Goodrem looked stunning as she performed the majority of the show in a flowing grey gown before switching to a short cut and sparkling number that showed off her towering height; even climbing on top of her piano to perform some of the closing medley numbers. As she delivered powerful performances of numbers like A Little Too Late, where she told the crowd “we’re gonna recreate the video today. It was a horrible video” before getting the crowd to join in on providing hand clapping and some backing vocals, or early number The Analyst, which shower off the stars powerful, projected vocals that effortlessly filled the East London venue with a richness and warmth that has stayed a signature staple throughout the years.
An encore of the night was made up of a full-throttle medley of other career notables and saw the singer change effortlessly between up-tempo songs and power ballads. Within the medley the singer added two of her biggest hits – Lost Without You and Born To Try. While it would have been amazing to hear these songs in their entirety, even a simple verse and chorus of each was enough to keep us satisfied as she delivered each with such emotion and power in her voice.
Delta Goodrem is a pop force of extraordinary talent and last night she delivered an exceptional performance for a fanbase that was living their best lives and in awe of their idol.
Setlist:
Out of the Blue
The Analyst
Mistaken Identity
Extraordinary Day
A Little Too Late
Be Strong
Electric Storm
Almost Here (with Calum Scott)
Miscommunication
Funkytown / Need You Tonight / Another One Bites the Dust / Clocks / Respect / I Feel Love
Sanctuary
Last Night on Earth
Fragile
Disorientated
You Are My Rock
Nobody Listened
Encore:
The Power / Hearts on the Run / Wings / Lost Without You / In This Life / Back to Your Heart / Born to Try / Believe Again
Sitting on Top of the World
Mistaken Identity (Instrumental reprise)
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
Over the years he has been lucky enough to review thousands of music releases and concerts and interview artists ranging from top selling superstars like 27-time Grammy Award winner Alison Krauss, Boyz II Men, Roxette, Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Loeb and iconic Eagles front man/songwriter, Glenn Frey through to more recent successes including Newton Faulkner, Janelle Monae and Caro Emerald.
Brendon manages and coordinates the amazing team of writers on RenownedForSound.com who are based in the UK, the U.S and Australia.
