Elles Bailey - Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival Spiegeltent St Andrew Square Gardens Edinburgh 15th July 2025

Elles has just completed a support slot with Rag ‘n’ Bone Man that has seen her spread her gospel in fab locations like Cardiff Castle and Halifax’s Peace Hall, and she still seemed to be absolutely buzzing from the breakthrough success of her ‘Beneath the Neon Glow’ album, so understandably she was eager to showcase some of those songs. ‘Enjoy the Ride’ was a great opener, but at the start of the second song, Elles realised she had left her tambourine in the van. Fortunately, by the end of ‘Leave the Light On’ it had turned up, but only after we had seen her absolutely top-drawer band show off their skills, not least Joe Wilkins, who earned a spontaneous mid-song ovation after a scorching guitar solo. Joe was wearing a cap and, on that form, he really should play guitar for England.

Anyone who regularly listens to Elles’ radio show on Planet Rock will know that she is a delightful human and very interactive and obliging with listeners and fans. Elles sat down beside Jonny Henderson at the keyboards for the next song and introduced ‘Ballad of a Broken Dream’ as having been requested by a lady called Alison, who duly leapt to her feet and asked if it was OK to stand up and dance. Elles, of course, agreed, but noted bemusedly that “I didn’t know it was a dance number”! It isn’t, unless it is the last song of the night in the Last Chance Saloon, but folks were quite happy to let Alison have a wee boogie to herself, bless ‘er. Later on, they played ‘Silhouette in the Sunset’ which had been requested at a recent show as the soundtrack for a marriage proposal in the crowd. It was a yes. ‘1972’ was up next. None of the band were around then but bass player Matthew Waer at least looked the part, with a passing resemblance to that year’s Olympic swimming champion Mark Spitz.

Among the well-known figures to have performed in The Famous Spiegeltent over the years is Marlene Dietrich, who appeared in 1930. Elles sat down at the front of the stage for her own torchy song ‘What’s the Matter with You’ and her vampy performance was every bit as smoky and sensuous as her illustrious predecessor. ‘Hell or High Water’ was another highlight from the ‘Road I Call Home’ album, with Joe sliding it in to great effect.

Wee Demi Marriner is always a stand-out performer and an essential part of the band’s vocal harmonies. Tonight was a special night for her, as she had earlier completed her last ever day as a school teacher, before dashing north to join her pal on stage. Her presence makes all of the songs better and Demi also enjoyed a short solo showcase by singing the part of the “young girl who had me a cowboy” in a wonderful duet with Elles on the John Prine classic ‘Angel from Montgomery’. Demi is also a solo performer in her own right and we can surely look forward to some more juicy goodness from her if she is now a full-time muso.

Elles was back sitting at the piano for the heart-break song ‘Let it Burn’ and by the end of it, there was a fan on the stage - not a stage invader, but an actual wind-blowing appliance. Not only did it keep everyone cool, but it also added a 1980s MTV hair-blowing-in-the-wind effect for Elles to release her inner Bonnie Tyler while performing ‘The Game’.

That brought us to what Elles called “the soulful, sassy section” and that started with the very sassy ‘If This is Love’. Elles teased us with the promise of revealing the “kiss and tell” story behind the song on her radio show this Saturday, so be sure to listen in. A cover of ‘Better Days’ from the band Catfish was a joy and came over like one of Van the Man’s more upbeat songs from when he’s taken a happy pill, although the song came with a sad dedication to Matt from Catfish who passed away last year.

‘Riding Out the Storm’ was another opportunity to showcase the band, with each player jumping into the song one-by-one. It must be a joy for Elles to have such good people behind her and it provides a wonderful platform for her to relax, be entertaining, and let her voice soar. She really was a charming presence all night and seems to be a woman in a happy place who has really found her groove. She will surely go from strength-to-strength from here.

There was still time for ‘Sunshine City’ to get the appreciative audience on their feet and for Elles to send everyone home feeling happy. The Spiegeltent will be in town until the end of August and Elles will be back in Scotland on 1st August for the Belladrum festival in the Highlands, which will also involve a TV appearance. Definitely one to look out for.