Gig review: Ellur at The Bodega, with Fright Years and Cara Flynn

Tonight's show opener Cara Flynn has quickly established herself on Nottingham’s buzzing music scene. The teenaged folk singer-songwriter has a beautiful ability to pen unerring songs which ring so true, and that ability has been noticed. She’s gathered a solid fanbase and much respect from other artists, venue managers and promoters. So, in some ways, it was no surprise to see her supporting tonight. In other ways, it was a very big deal. Her first time at The Bodega, and a very full house, too.

Yes, there were some nerves visible as she stepped on stage and set up her stool, her guitar and her mic. But there’s nothing wrong with that. What mattered was how her songs would translate in this setting: not a problem there, either. Beginning with Spark, she caringly delivered a set of intimate, relatable and confessional songs, taking the time to explain each one and making sure the message had been understood. Playing her acoustic guitar without a pick brought a hazy edge, and by the time she reached her final trio of songs (all unreleased and all definitely “bops”), she’d won plenty of new fans. 

Next up: Edinburgh-based alt-indie group Fright Years. I have to confess to having this band firmly on my playlists for most of this year, particularly Stars which I was thrilled to hear as their opening song. It’s based on a ridiculously interesting and infectious riff, with the drums coming in not quite where you’d expect (I can never get my head round the timing of how it works, and afterwards the band told me “We’re not sure either”...) 

The only trouble with Stars is that it’s over too soon… but there wasn’t much time to reflect on that, as the band cleverly segued straight into Evil. Each of these songs – and the rest of the set – gave Juliette Kelly the opportunity to show off her supreme vocal tone: rich, accurate, with subtle vocal cracks in just the right places. 

Aftersun used an acoustic guitar as a base and elevated the energy levels in the room with a rapid surge, as the soaring “All at once, you get better” encouraged some warm audience clapping. Next, How to Get Back brought the focus on to bass player Fraser Charleson who smashed out an incredibly infectious high, funky bass-line, supported by always-in-the-pocket drummer Struan Blacklock.

Do What You Wanna offered a change in tempo and style, before the band treated us to a new song, Wait, which featured long drawn-out vocal notes. After exercising her vocal chords, Juliette stepped down into the crowd halfway through final offering Let Me Down: a confident ending to a well-rounded, high-energy performance which felt like a mini headline set rather than a simple support spot.

There wasn't long to wait for Ellur (Ella McNamara). The Northern indie-pop artist appeared on stage brimming over with energy, despite being four shows into her tour. She opened with Missing Kid and followed up with Boys, getting the whole room jumping and singing along with surprising volume at such an early stage.

Yellow Light sounded rich and motivated, and Your Dog was a good contrast. Ellur introduced it as "A song about my ex boyfriend, who's a nob."

Here, and at many other points during the evening, Ellur sung out with complete joy and abandon - she was obviously completely invested and that energy and emotion translated from stage to audience comprehensively, putting smiles on everyone's faces for pretty much the whole night.

The Wheel (released only last month) is an honest, down-to-Earth song in true Yorkshire style, all about making do with what you have. That liberating number was followed by a communal stretching session, as Ellur urged us to get loosened up, to lose our inhibitions and to really be in the moment. Appropriately, that was followed by Free where she explored her vocal abilities more than she had yet. She's capable of keeping very soft and restrained, and then contrasting this with an increase in amplitude and pitch, jumping octaves with confidence.

From this point of the show onwards, there were not-so-subtle hints dropped of an impending release which Ellur jokingly described as “something rhyming with Bebut Balbum” (hopefully this hasn't spilled any secrets), much to the delight of her fans.

The remainder of the set felt like an exercise in togetherness: a communal celebration of music and joy. Through Anywhere and The World Is Not An Oyster, Ellur helped everyone to get into that magical gig zone where troubles fade away and there's a sense that everyone is united.

For Alive, we were encouraged to loosen up even more - to join Ellur and "dance and get silly". It felt like not a single person was left out here.

To take us to the end of the main set, there then followed a set of special songs: a new one called Disintegrate, Lonelier in Heaven, and finally Ellur's own favourite God Help Me Now.

Instead of the traditional encore, Ellur explained that she'd play two more songs solo to end the night (most of the crowd cheered their support for this idea - is the whole leave the stage and come back on rigmarole really sustainable any more?). Those songs were Mourning Song and Knowing, quieter and perhaps sadder songs.

In eschewing the - more typical - idea of ending on an energetic high, Ellur chose instead to lead us through a gentle wind down, calming the vibes and giving space for her to finish with some very touching and respectful thank yous: to Fright Years and to Nottingham's own Cara Flynn who was described as "the sweetest person" who even gave Ellur flowers before the show.

The time had passed quickly during Ellur's set, and in fact the evening as whole. This wasn't one of those gigs where each set felt distinct and self-absorbed; the three had formed an entire, cohesive whole and one which would not be forgotten quickly.

@ellurmusic

Ellur performed at The Bodega on 3rd October 2025, with support from Fright Years and Cara Flynn.