Ellie Williams @ The Troubadour Tuesday 6th October 2009

Ellie Williams @ The Troubadour Wednesday 9^th September 2009
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The Bill:-
James McVey
Paper Aeroplanes : The Day We Ran Into The Sea
Ellie Williams
Jamie Abbott

Ellie’s Set List:-
Unseen
Under Your Skin
Firefly
Lay
Fine

After my last report on Ellie playing in Exeter with her band I now get the chance to saunter ‘up the road’ and catch her playing solo at The Troubadour in London. Being far less nervous than last time we also get the chance to chew the fat for a while before she’s on, with Adam and ‘Dad’ (who’s doing ALL the driving – aren’t parents just the best eh!).

Before I move on to Ellie I've just got to mention Paper Aeroplanes. Usually a duo but today a solo performance and it was magical - so much so that I picked up a copy of their album. Check 'em out on mySpace to see for yourselves!

Another brilliant performance of Unseen sets the tone nicely and the crowd is showing deference with suitable silence, which is unusual for the Troubadour in my experience!
I shouldn’t have worried about my own pet peeve of samey piano-girl performances all seamlessly running into one another as Ellie worked through her set. Maybe it’s the old familiarity doing it’s thang, but I didn’t get the feeling of deja-vu I so often get in these circumstances even though I’m not (yet!) that familiar with Under Your Skin! ... Firefly we already know is a top tune but I’m growing ever fonder of Ellie’s Lay too. Routed in sadness there’s an underlying feeling of strength, the strength to get through it, to prevail against the misery, the a hand reaching out offering succour. Beautiful. Finishing off with another new(ish) one to me, Fine, which is better than fine (oh come on, I didn’t do anything cheesy with Under Your Skin! Gimme a break!) ended a superb short set – that’s 6 hours of driving for 5 songs but totally worth it from my end!

Thanks for coming up to the big smoke Els ...

UBG