Ella Hooper was humble in playing the Magic Mirror Spiegeltent in the Garden of Unearthly Delights. She told us to imagine all the famous artists from around the world who had played that tent before her.
Well, Ella Hooper did not let them or the famous tent down. Ella and her Magic Three backing band presented an evening of great songs from her solo career. Those expecting a raft of Killing Heidi songs would have been disappointed. She didn’t play any, but such Ella’s back catalogue that she didn’t need them.
The evening started with just guitar and keyboard being played in a surreal fashion. Waves of sound drifted out over the audience with Ella’s superb voice blending in nicely. I must admit I am not sure of the song title (“Shadow’s in my Heart”?), but Ella had already set the bar high after song one.
The theme for the night, if there was one, seemed to be songs about broken hearts played in a variety of ways, ballads, rock and maybe a little jazz.
Ella played a lot of new songs from her current E.P. Venom as well as songs from her previous release In Tongues. She also played a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s song Dreams, telling us this is the song she wished she had written. The song was played reasonably slow and showcased Ella’s voice.
AND could she talk. Between every set we got stories about her music and life. This at times was as entertaining as her music. In fact she left us with a hint of a certain band reunion, “but I’m not allowed to talk about that”.
The voice of an angel.
Words Geoff Jenke
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