Photo Credit: Bridie Main
Words: Molly Rose
The penultimate show of her headline tour. Halifax-based artist Ellur graced the stage of The Camden Assembly with nothing but nostalgic joy and excitement, from her opening song ‘Missing Kid’, all the way to the final melodies. With a sold-out crowd ranging from all ages, The Camden Assembly was flooding with anticipation for Ellur to take the stage.
Kicking off this evening of intensity, emerging artist Pixie McCann gripped the audience, as everyone began to flood in. A solo artist, who creates all her live work through the use of a loop pedal on stage, all members of the crowd were hooked as McCann’s vocals echoed through the intimate space. The work felt on a different level to what most are doing in the current climate, and really exposed her raw, isolated vocals in front of her self-made production, as she provided songs from her latest ep, NEEDY, and earlier projects. Following McCann’s incredible set of five songs, the second support of the night, London-based SOMOH brought indie/alternative energy and noise, to really set the scene for Ellur later that night. Playing her first full band show in “nearly a year”, she and all the band brought exactly the energy needed for the set later in the evening. The crowd began to fill to maximum capacity, with SOMOH’s vocals rippling through everyone, creating an atmosphere which filled everyone with further anticipation.
The excitement radiating from the crowd began to reach levels of noise that those outside could probably hear, as Ellur’s band took the stage, and anticipation rose higher than ever. The stage door was in the pit, so Ellur ran up to the stage through the side of the crowd, assisted by cheers and celebration as she began her first song, ‘Missing Kid’, getting everyone involved, pointing the microphone to the crowd. She then went into ‘Boys’, once again facing the mic outwards for a large portion, pointing this specifically to those chanting and singing loudest.
One thing I took from Ellur’s show was her incredible crowd interaction from the very first to the very last minute, she consistently pointed out those singing every word, even those deep in the pit, where artists often miss. There were also a lot of jokes told with them, whether this was about her music, or the crowd itself, making the energy higher than ever and really connecting with every member of the audience.
Heading into more tunes which can be found within her discography, songs such as ‘Yellow Light’ and ‘Your Dog’ really brought the crowd together as everyone simultaneously sung every word straight back to her, sometimes even making it hard to hear Ellur herself. Her second latest single, ‘The Wheel’, which was released early September this year, emphasised the incredible stage presence encapsulated as an artist, dancing and singing with everyone, even when they didn’t fully know the lyrics. Before this song, Ellur brought in the first key representation of fan collaboration, teaching the lyric, “spinning the wheel“, and explaining when this should be sung. This therefore gave an opportunity to newer fans, or those exploring the music, to sing along, and experience the incredible atmosphere which was created. A highlight during the song ‘Free’, was Ellur taking a phone from the crowd, which had a fan watching the show via a FaceTime call. The phone was shown to the audience, which led to a response of cheers and laughter as Ellur continued to sing towards the call, showing the close-knit community created within her fanbase, in addition to her incredible personality, both on and off stage.
Ellur’s set was also emphasised through her addition of multiple unreleased songs scattered throughout, such as ‘The World is Not an Oyster’ and ‘Lonelier in Heaven’, where the hints towards a future project were established. These unreleased songs had a special aspect of starting out acoustic, with just Ellur and a guitar, yet around halfway through, the entire band came in, mirroring the songwriting process, which starts acoustic then gets made for stage.
Reaching the end of the set, the latest single, ‘Disintegrate’ brought tears to everyone’s eyes as Ellur introduced it saying, “The world is full of horrible people … But we are all stood here in a room and agree on one thing, that music’s really cool“. , which echoed a large cheer from everyone watching. The audience was then directed to put their arms in the air, breathe, and let everything out through the action of dance, allowing everyone to feel the sense of freedom she felt on stage, and truly escape from reality.
The final song in which she was assisted with the band was her most-streamed song, ‘God Help Me Now’, which has reached over one million streams on Spotify, and every single person standing in the room knew every word. Ellur reached out and held hands with as many people as she could, as her band grouped together, dancing and singing to one another whilst finishing their duties for the night. This really echoed the togetherness of Ellur and her team, something which is so special in music.
On came the encore, which consisted of two songs, both of which Ellur sang acoustically, with just a guitar. This consisted of ‘Mourning Song’, which made everyone teary-eyed due to the combination of raw, personal lyrics, and the power of her isolated vocals, and ‘Knowing’, an unreleased song (something in which artists don’t usually close on, but this worked perfectly). Fans began to hold up their phone flashlights during this song, creating a sea of light, as the lyrics explored the depths of anxiety and the consequences this brings up, bringing more tears to everyone. These torches unified everyone in the room, emphasising the ideas of finding your people, which Ellur spoke about before she began to sing. This was a perfect way to close the show, and left the audience filled with waves of sentiment as the lights came on.
Overall, Ellur showed the magic which can come with performance, and how the combination of humour and good music can truly unite everyone, no matter the differences between one another. An up-and-coming artist with a stage presence like one at the top, Ellur is definitely one to look out for, and a show I’d recommend to anyone, especially those who enjoy the indie/rock genre of live music.
Taped Magazine 