Elles Bailey Arlington Arts Centre Newbury 01-03-25

 

First up was Demi Marriner who was introduced by Elles and her dog Roxy. Demi is on double duties this evening as she is also part of Elles band .

Her 45 minute acoustic set showed off her wonderful vocal range with melodies to die for and held notes that had jaws dropping.

Songs with the class of Repeat Refrain and Best of Me show that her star will ascend and she was joined by Elles for Need To Know and left to huge applause.

Elles Bailey returned to Arlington as part of her Beneath The Neon Glow Tour part 2 and with the album charting in the UK at number 12 the sold out Saturday night crowd are ready.

Elles and her band Joe Wilkins on guitar, Matthew Waer on bass, James Graham on keys, Demi Marriner on acoustic guitar and back up vocals and Matt Jones on drums deliver across the 90 minute set.

Beyond The Neon Glow is played in full with all 10 tracks in attendance but sprinkled across the 17 song set rather than in one batch. 

Enjoy The Ride is a great opener with Elles voice rich full and melodic and the band hit the groove immediately and the crowd know every word before second single Leave The Light On take us even higher with Joe Wilkins who has already impressed on slide guitar now having the chance in the song outro to show us his guitar soloing skills which he does in abundance.

Ballad Of A Broken Dream takes it down a notch and sees Elles at the keys alongside James with both struggling to find any room on the small seat and her vocal melody soars with Demi backing it all up superbly.

1972 sees the band funk it up with the crowd singing back the chorus heartily and shows the albums diversity and how Elles can handle all forms of blues, soul and funk in her stride.

A John Martyn cover of Over The Hill was suitably rocked up and Elles showed us her dance moves and Matt Jones on drums impressed with his power and feel. 

Silhouette In A Sunset sees Joe strumming acoustically and Elles vocal is heartfelt and shows her emotion in every word and we can all relate to the lyrics as we are taken on an emotional journey all in 5 minutes leaving us breathless.

We then jump back to the Road I Call Home album for Hell Or High Water and then a fan voted cover of John Prine's Angel of Montgomery both being greeted like long lost friends.

Angel seemed to be voted more for the fact that stand in keyboard player James hadn't played the song live before but he showed a us his talent with a wonderfully improvised lengthy solo that got a fantastic audience reaction.

Back to BTNG and Truth Ain't Gonna Save Us sees the pace increase with Elles showing held notes poise with Demi on backing vocals filling in any gaps and Joe again guitar soloing with finesse.

Love Yourself sees the band get into the groove in the mid song breakdown as Elles accapellas with James on keys impressing with Hammond fills.

Let It Burn that was co written with Katey Brooks is a show stopper. Elles showing off her emotional side and a great Joe slide guitar solo adding to the elegance with Demi's backing vocals pitch perfect. Beautiful.

If This Is Love has a funky groove and mid song pace increase and Graham on keys adding extra depth to the band workout.

The back catalogue is then played again with The Game and Riding Out The Storm both enthusiastically received before a cover of Catfish's Better Days saw an emotional Elles dedicate it to Matt Long who passed way too soon last year. A fitting tribute.

First encore Turn Off The News has Elles telling us after the day's news this has has never been more true and has Elles vocal full of emotion and we hang on her every word as the superb ballad sees the last of the album played to huge applause.

Elles take us to Sunshine City to end the evening on a high and Joe plays another excellent slide guitar solo during the mid song breakdown alongside Demi and her vocal acrobatics towards the song outro are simply fantastic.

Every song from Beneath The Neon Glow work superbly in the live arena and show a depth and maturity in the song writing and playing that have take Elles to another level.

With live dates across the summer supporting Rag 'n' Bone Man at huge outdoor venues do yourself a favour and go and see one of the UK's brightest talents and her fantastic band as soon as possible as she will not be playing venues this size for very much longer.