IDEAL LIVING + NIERRA CREEK + ELLA GRACE – THE FOLKLORE ROOMS, BRIGHTON 19.12.23
Folklore’s Xmas Party on Tuesday night included a varied and quality line up with two local Brighton bands Ideal Living and Nierra Creek and London singer-songwriter Ella Grace.
Ideal Living
Headlining the Christmas party was Brighton-based art-rockers Ideal Living. They formed in late 2022, and I saw them supporting both AtticOmatic and Ellis D earlier in the year, when they were called D.L.D. (This was after the condition Developmental Learning Disorder, which covers dyslexia, autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)). Since then, they have expanded their line up with a trumpet player and saxophonist.
Back to the present and Tuesday’s live event, where Ideal Living were a six-piece band, as their saxophone player was unable to make it. If you’ve been to the Folklore Rooms, you’ll know the stage in the corner is rather small. This meant Jamie played trumpet standing on the windowsill.
Ideal Living opened their set with ‘Come To Me’. It’s atmospheric and moody soundscape with Billy’s spoken word delivery set the tone for their impressive performance. Their next song ‘Crawling’ started with a simple arrangement with just Billy’s vocals and guitar, with the others very subtly joining as the song developed. This was a beautiful softer number. Ideal Living changed the tone and pace with their next song ‘Wheel’, which was more up tempo and louder. It had interesting stark angular sounds mid-song, before a moody outro.
One of the many highlights in Ideal Living’s set was their single released earlier this year ’Sanity’. It started with an edgy sound, which had an almost scary sinister feel, and Billy putting pain into his vocals. This meshed effortlessly with a lively jazz feel later in the song.
‘March’ started with Billy’s controlled shouted lyrics with a good instrumental backing. The song took a U-turn mid-song with Bertie’s drumming becoming more of a marching band sound. Before ‘Spooky Central’, Billy asked, “If you’ve got a better name for it, tell us after the show.” With its spoken word verse and sung chorus, ‘Spooky Central’ had a similar feel to Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue’s duet ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’.
Next up was a new song, ‘Line’, which they had only played once before. Introduced as “a slow one”, it started with just the guitarists and Billy giving more of a poetry recital delivery. The keyboards and trumpet subtly joined later on this captivating new song.
The change in tempo on ‘Down’ was announced by Billy saying “I’ve got my dancing shoes on. If you have, dance like it’s your sixth-grade disco. No knee slides though!” It was a lively danceable track, and the school disco reference could have related to the lyric that mentioned somebody who “shat themselves in Geography”.
After that song, Billy announced they had “one, maybe two songs left”. Members of the band WELLY who were in the audience, cheekily heckled “one more song, one more song”. Thankfully there were two more. The first of which was ‘Roam’, a slower number. Mid-song it changed to a cappella started by Alyx, the bassist. The rest of the band then joined in a harmony, which was a stunning and moving unaccompanied section of this song.
For the final song of their set, Billy explained “Life can be short and quite shit. Hug and hold each other.” Many in the audience did so, dancing along to the set finale. Mid-song he reminded the audience that “No one’s too cool for a hug”. It was a fitting ending to a Christmas showcase.
The night closed with Ideal Living dancing on stage and also many in the audience joining in to the sounds of ‘All I Want For Christmas’ by Mariah Carey (not My Chemical Romance’s version) over the PA, which neatly summed up the joyful mood of Folklore’s Xmas Party.
It was great to see Ideal Living step up from support to headliners, which they did with ease. Based on Tuesday night’s performance, they are definitely one of the many new exciting Brighton bands to catch live in 2024.
Ideal Living:
Billy Marsh – lead vocals/bass
Austin – guitar/backing vocals
Alyx – bass/backing vocals
Miles Goodall – keyboard/backing vocals
Bertie Beer – drums/backing vocals
Jamie Broughton – trumpet, Melodica
Freddy – saxophonist (not present)
Ideal Living setlist:
‘Come To Me’
‘Crawling’
‘Wheel’
’Sanity’ (2023 single)
‘March’
‘Spooky Central’
‘Line’
‘Down’
‘Roam’
“(unknown)”
Ella Grace
Opening Folklore’s Xmas Party was singer-songwriter Ella Grace. London-born Ella Grace’s music straddles rock n’ roll and folk. For her live show, she was joined by a guitarist. Both performed sitting down, so Ella asked the audience to sit down as well.
Ella started with a song she wrote in lockdown, ‘I Wonder’, which was a quiet folk song. She followed this with her cover of T Rex’s ‘Get It On’, which was a very different interpretation being more of a poetry recital than the classic glam rock sound. My highlights were her newer songs, in particular ‘Charlie’ (about her friend in Berlin and his carefree attitude) and ‘Burn’ (about meeting and starting a relationship with her new girlfriend). She did spend time giving the background to all the songs. Although it’s something I’m not usually keen on, in this case it added to the intimacy of the performance and setting.
Ella did include songs from her older material, such as ‘Wild Roads’, which had a country music feel. Her final song ‘Grace’ was introduced as “about unrequited love, there’s a theme here”.
With the performers sitting on chairs and the audience sitting on the floor, there was a very intimate feel to Ella Grace’s set. It was a quality performance, which went down well with the audience. Their cheers and applause between songs and at the end of the set were louder than Ella Grace’s stripped-down sound. This was a clear indication how much they enjoyed her opening performance.
Ella Grace setlist:
‘I Wonder’ (from 2021 ‘Reverence’ album)
‘Get It On’ (T Rex cover)
‘Charlie’ (unreleased)
‘Wild Roads’ (2017 single)
‘The Edge’ (2023 single)
‘Burn’ (2023 single)
‘Grace’ (2022 single)
Nierra Creek
The middle act on the bill was Nierra Creek, a duo of Somerset songwriter Ryan Deag and Swiss producer Sebastian Müller, who are now based in Brighton. They were joined for the live show by an additional guitarist / keyboard player, Theo.
Nierra Creek started the night’s entertainment with ‘Born A Child’ which had a dreamy synth sound which became harsher later in the song. This was typical of their set overall. From the opening number, there was loud enthusiastic applause from the audience. This led Ryan to say “I was going to ask how you’re feeling? You sound like you’re doing ok”.
They played two unreleased songs that have been recorded for their forthcoming EP. There is no release date yet, and we were informed “It’s out, when it’s out”. The first of these ‘Lately’ was described as their saddest song and the vocals were very melancholy. The other ‘I Try’ was described as “at the other end of the spectrum” and was much quicker and upbeat.
For all three bands, the audience were respectfully quiet during the songs. Ryan made a point of thanking people for listening and not indulging in socialising and chit-chat during the performance.
The band said they would be trying something new for the final number of the set and jokingly asked for people to “pray with us”. That final song was their synth interpretation of ‘Silent Night’ with its moody electronic arrangements and various effects on the vocals. All three were on vocal harmonies for this closing song.
Judging by the audience’s reaction, they enjoyed Nierra Creek’s electronic soundscapes very much.
Nierra Creek:
Ryan Deag – lead vocals/guitar/keyboards
Sebastian Müller – keyboards/drum pad/backing vocals
Theo – guitar/keyboards
Nierra Creek setlist:
‘Born A Child’
‘Burn Out The Fire’
‘Daisy’
‘Lately’
‘I Try’
‘Silent Night’
Folklore Sessions host live events at venues across the South of England. Once a month they bring three artists to The Folklore Rooms in Brighton for a free showcase. You can find details of forthcoming shows on their website, HERE.
