Ellur at King Tut’s, Glasgow (Gig review)

‘I know it’s a Sunday night, Glasgow, but are you up for it? Are you feeling giddy?’ exclaims Ellur to King Tut’s audience. Tonight, Ellur aka Ella McNamara has the crowd eating out of her hand with the natural stage presence you’d associate with a musical veteran. 

Backed by a full band ‘Dream of Mine’ kicks off proceedings with a dreamy melody that gives Sam Fender/The War On Drugs vibes. It is quite the spectacle to witness Ellur’s diverse vocal range in the flesh with seamless gear changes that at times defy comprehension.

Between songs Ellur is full of wit and charm, bringing unexpected humour to the fore as well as an onstage aura, with her dancing and tambourine waving giving Stevie Nicks grandeur. As delightful and catchy as the music sounds, the lyrics to the majority of Ellur’s tracks are heavy topics with mental health, guilt and relationship difficulties all being explored. The music is as honest as genuine sounding as Ellur herself and the crowd lap up every second of it.

One of the closing tracks tonight, ‘Knowing’ was the last song written by Ellur that was included in her recent debut album At Home In My Mind. ‘You shouldn’t have favourites but this is my favourite from the album’ she confessed before giving a solo acoustic rendition. Once again her voice took centre stage and you could sense every shred of emotion that echoed around King Tut’s.

Ellur is re-joined by her band for the finale ‘God Help Me Now’, it feels more sonically charged than the studio version but what remains the same is Ellur’s visceral and punchy delivery of her lyrics ‘I Think too much, I’m all out of fucks … Tell me how to feel, tell me how to heal’.

With Ellur being added to the TRNSMT lineup this week it feels like the perfect match for a potentially more buoyant festival crowd to enjoy her charisma and music equally.  

Setlist

Dream Of Mine

The Wheel

Yellow Light

Black Sands

Lonelier In Heaven

Missing Kid

Pushing Away

Disintegrate

The World Is Not An Oyster

At Home In My Mind

Love Me Fuck You

Knowing

God Help Me Now

At Home In My Mind  is out now, via Dance To The Radio

Photo Credit: Sarah Oglesby