Between appearances at Leeds and Reading, Nieve Ella took the opportunity to engage with her fans in Nottingham with a headline show at The Bodega. Those fans responded big time, filling the sold-out venue with noisy adoration...
An entirely sold-out Bodega is always a joy to behold - hardly space to move between stage and bar; a high-frequency buzz of excitement; and a well-deserved busy night for this beloved venue. It was no surprise that this gig was over-subscribed. Nieve Ella has been a crowd-puller for some time. In March this year, she played her biggest headline show to date, easily filling the 1500-cap KOKO in London. So her choice to drop in to The Bodega between huge appearances at the Leeds and Reading sister festivals was a bold and wonderful one, and provided a chance which her East Midlands fans would not be likely to miss.
Some of those fans were (according to an overheard conversation between bar staff) waiting in Pelham Street at 7.15am. Yes, that's over 12 hours before the Nieve's stage time at this intimate show.
Supporting tonight was Ruby Roberts. She's one of those modern stars, plucked from obscurity thanks to viral Tiktok videos, and asked to transition extra-rapidly from bedroom to real life stage with all its unique challenges.
Ruby got off to a slightly shaky start, her voice betraying some nerves, but after the first song she seemed to settle well into the performance. By the time she reached one of her bigger songs, her third single 'My Endeavour', she seemed transformed. Here, Ruby's voice took on a well-trained, almost operatic edge as she powered through the escapist and vibey tune.
From there, her short set included a decent cover of Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams' and ended with 'Trampoline'. This is one of the songs which launched Ruby to where she is, and her first single to be released after she signed a record deal. You can see the appeal - it's an engaging, summery number and definitely the best of her songs to date.
There's no doubt that Ruby is talented - she's been writing songs since she was a young child - and deserves to be heard. But I couldn't help feeling that she might not have been ready for a show like this (and it was a shame that one of our local stars, the kind who've been working the live circuit and building our scene for years, wasn't given this support opportunity).
The contrast with Nieve Ella was marked. She blasted on to stage, all attitude and confidence, and eager, too. Eager to engage with this overjoyed crowd, and to simply play her music, up close and personal, to a room full of human beings, each of which she could see and hear vividly from this relatively small stage.
Her first offering was 'Anything' (from her 'Watch It Ache And Bleed' EP) - a flowing, building song which was the perfect way into this intense show. Next, 'The Things We Say', and the room was already a sea of euphoria and pogoing teenaged-fans.
The temperature had already risen several degrees, meaning Nieve wasn't able to wear the hand-decorated jumper gifted by a fan at this point, but she did stash it away for later and expressed her love for playing in small venues. "I can feel every one of you!" she exclaimed.
She introduced 'Sweet Nothings' by dedicating it to love of all kinds and encouraging us to tell each other "I love you" - there was a lovely, audible hum of happy words before the first chords of the song rang out and then gave way to thrummy bass notes and busy drums.
The high level of fandom was on clear display here, too - the lyric "Call me lovely down in Circus Lane" was accompanied by the perfectly-timed raising of a banner emblazoned with that street name; and after "say my name", countless voices squeezed in "Nieve!" with practised timing. Again, being a small venue, Nieve noticed all this from stage, and we noticed that she noticed, too. A virtuous feedback loop.
'His Sofa' was powerful, packed with attitude, and slightly chaotic - raucous in the best kind of way. The feeling was of guitar music being absolutely reclaimed by this generation, and sitting in extremely safe hands. Nieve allowed for some messiness, leaving things unscripted and genuine.
"This is my last headline show for a while... we need to go away to make music," was her tantalising comment before a slower moment in the shape of 'Lifetime of Wanting', and then the sweeping 'Car Park' (both from a 2023 EP).
What sets Nieve Ella apart is her song-writing approach. Her well-written tunes are slightly irregular: combining the best pop elements with moments of imagination and angularity (in both tune and lyric). That makes singing them aloud special - you need to know what you're doing, and that brings fans even closer together.
The unreleased 'Lucky Girl' stimulated an ever-more intense connection with those ubiquitous fans, making way for a huge moment of communal vocalism in punchy new single 'Good Grace'. Power and might, fuzzy guitars, sweat and ear-to-ear grins. After that, it could only be the even more energetic 'Ganni Top' - which gave the audience a well-earned opportunity to scream - before some quick band intros, a reading of banners and phone-screen messages and a reluctant dash to the finish with 'Sugarcoated'. That song began with a wave of sound which seemed to be unleashed with effortless abandon.
Nieve Ella performed at The Bodega on 23rd August 2025, with support from Ruby Roberts.
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