Just two years after her music career began, Nieve Ella has already forged her place as one of indie-pop’s most exciting prospects. Embarking on a lengthy tour in support of her latest EP Watch It Ache and Bleed, the Shropshire artist made a Saturday night stop-off at Manchester’s New Century Hall, bringing her friend and fellow singer-songwriter Fred Roberts along to perform for 1,300 devoted fans.
Fred Roberts’ opening set was unfortunately plagued by technical difficulties, which were noticed early on but seemed to return frequently, resulting in plenty of apologies. Nevertheless, Roberts didn’t have to do much to earn the support of Nieve Ella’s crowd, who already appeared familiar with him and his material. At one point in his half-hour set, a fan threw a Union Jack flag bearing his image onto the stage, and resounding cheers erupted at the close of every song, no matter if it was out of time.
Roberts clearly has potential, with a great voice and an impressive debut EP behind him, but on-stage problems proved problematic, and his atmospheric pop songs admittedly don’t have the same effect without the backing of a live drummer. His upcoming single ‘Object of Desire’ delivered one of the set’s highlights, as did a cover of Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Taste’ which provided the first of many singalong opportunities of the night: “I definitely picked the right cover”, he noted. Roberts often paused to laud Nieve Ella, who he described as his “best friend forever” and praised as “an incredible artist, person, friend”, raising the audience’s excitement and anticipation as they prepared to greet their favourite indie-pop starlet.
As Nieve Ella entered the stage to the sound of Chappell Roan’s unstoppable mega-hit ‘HOT TO GO!’, the crowd’s screams verged on deafening. The first few chords of ‘Anything’ rang out, and rows of well-practiced fans recited its vulnerable lyrics. ‘Anything’ provides a striking opener for Watch It Ache and Bleed, showcasing Nieve Ella’s emotionally resonant lyricism, vigorous vocals and vivacious instrumentation: it produced a similar effect as the opener of a live set, commencing the ensuing performance with a burst of energy.
Pausing for a moment after ‘The Things We Say’, Ella appeared astounded by the size of the audience, stating “this is the biggest show I’ve ever done; I normally see this kind of crowd when we support someone else”. “This is an old one that we’ve really fallen in love with again, I’m sure you’ll know it”, she added, before launching into the instantly recognisable guitar riff of ‘Blu Shirt Boy’, a song taken from her debut EP Young & Naïve which blends breezy bedroom pop melodies with elements reminiscent of eighties-nineties indie.
Following a performance of Watch It Ache and Bleed highlight ‘Sweet Nothings’, Nieve Ella introduced ‘Good Grace’, a currently unreleased track which sees the Shropshire artist lean further into rock music than ever before. The song can only be described as the cool older cousin of ‘Ganni Top’, Nieve Ella’s semi-viral 2024 single, and features heavy guitar riffs similar to those of Olivia Rodrigo’s most hard-hitting cuts.
Inviting Fred Roberts back to the stage with a “hello my darling boy”, the two performed ‘The Reason’, and Nieve Ella reciprocated the love Roberts had previously shown by saying “Fred is my best friend on the earth, and it’s so cool to have him on such a special tour”. Once Roberts had departed to more cheers from the audience, ‘Big House’ was introduced as a song that Nieve Ella thought “I’d never play again”. The fan favourite provided a particularly special moment in the set, as it marked the first time it appeared in a Nieve Ella setlist this tour: its creator seemed to view its popularity as incomprehensible, though, stating “I don’t know why you’re screaming, it’s not that great”.
Nieve Ella announced ‘Car Park’ as “my favourite song”, before leading into ‘Ganni Top’ with an extended introduction of the lyric “she gets what she needs”. “This is for all my women, happy International Women’s Day!” Ella exclaimed as the song kicked in, being met with a rapturous reception from all in attendance. If any song is guaranteed to get a crowd of ribbon-haired girls jumping around, it’s ‘Ganni Top’, and its performance was destined to be a highlight within Nieve Ella’s live show.
As ‘Meet You In The Middle’ closed the main portion of the set with a swift change of tune, members of the crowd could be seen bursting into tears at its first notes. Devastating yet simultaneously cathartic, providing a fitting conclusion to both Watch It Ache and Bleed and Nieve Ella’s live show. Throughout the duration of the set, guitarist Finn Marlow provided gorgeous backing vocals, habitually matching Ella’s voice in perfect harmony, and this was most prominent here as the two belted the song’s lyrics in unison.
Returning after a very brief break, Nieve Ella declared “let’s carry on”, seeming eager to perform her three-song encore. A simple but effective change to the lyrics of ‘Girlfriend’ saw Ella sing “does your girlfriend know you kissed me after the Manchester show?” before ‘His Sofa’ opened with a crowd-led “fuck it” and kept up the energy as the set came to a close. “I can’t quite imagine how this has happened”, Nieve Ella stated before thanking her band and concluding the show with ‘Sugarcoated’: “it’s really overwhelming, and it’s so fucking scary, but I’m so glad we’ve made it here, and it means so much to us that you can all have a space where you can have fun. It’s all we’ve ever dreamed of”.
After a brilliant festival season last year including appearances at Live at Leeds in the Park and Truck Festival, Nieve Ella’s full show truly cements her position as an undebatable indie-pop virtuoso. To say that the first time she picked up a guitar was in 2020, her talent is remarkable, and if her live performances are anything to go by, she’ll be counted in the genre’s upper echelons in no time.
