RAG’N’BONE MAN + ELLES BAILEY + JON POPPII – DE LA WARR PAVILION, BEXHILL-ON-SEA 5.3.25
BRITs Week 25, delivered by DHL for War Child entered its last gig on Wednesday 5th March with triple BRIT award winner, Rag ‘N’ Bone Man bringing his raw, soulful vocals to the iconic seafront location of De La Warr Pavilion, in Bexhill-on-Sea.
Rag’n’Bone Man played this very special intimate gig at the cherished East Sussex venue for the charity War Child. at a time when more children than ever need #WarChild’s support.
Fresh from his storming third studio album release (‘What Do You Believe In?’– released 18th October 2024), Rag ‘N’ Bone Man is preparing himself for a busy 2025 with extensive worldwide touring and musical releases to come.
All proceeds from the shows went towards War Child’s phenomenal work to help provide protection, education, mental health support, and more while standing up for the rights of children whose lives have been devastatingly affected by war. The total amount raised for War Child by BRITs Week, since its inception in 2009, is over £7,430,000.
Right now, it’s the deadliest time to be a child. It is estimated that 1 in 5 children are currently living in or fleeing from conflict. But there is hope, with your support War Child can help children put the pieces back together. By experiencing the thrill and excitement of the intimate, one-off performances you will be directly contributing to helping these children rebuild their lives.
The gig is sold out which is great news for the War Child charity.
I thankfully settled into my seat just in time for support, London’s Jon Poppii, starting his set after a horrendous fight to find a parking space.
Soulful pop, heartfelt songs and for me the best of his set was ‘Wasted Prayer’ a new track he was trying out on the audience tonight. It was beautiful and the rest of the crowd agreed.
Jon Poppii setlist:
‘You Lied’
‘Sweet Guy’ – heartfelt songs
‘Love Is The Worst’
‘I Don’t Belong’
‘Wasted Prayer’ a new track he was trying out on the audience tonight. Beautiful and the rest of the crowd agreed.
‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ cover. Nice. Slowed down and soulful
‘Love Back’
Next up – Elles Bailey who is an award-winning, critically acclaimed artist who seamlessly straddles the worlds of Americana, Rock & Blues.
Some of those awards include: UK song of the Year 2020 at the Americana Awards UK. Album of the Year 2020 and 2023 at the UK Blues Awards. Artist and Live Act of the Year 2023 at the Americana Awards UK. Vocalist of the Year 2023 at the UK Blues Awards and Artist of the Year 2020, 2021 and 2023 at the UK Blues Awards – a “threepeat” victory that saw her excluded from any further wins but inducted her into the UK Blues Hall of Fame.
She started by saying that she was honoured to be here tonight supporting Rag ‘N’ Bone Man for War Child.
All the songs she delivered were from last year’s album ‘Beneath The Neon Glow’.
She’s on stage, playing acoustic, with her side woman Demi Mariner. What a great voices from both of these women. There’s a perfect symbiosis between them.
Bailey is the business. The consummate performer on all levels. As she’s singing ‘Truth Ain’t Gonna Save Us’ she makes her way down off the stage in front of the crowd – a great fan pleaser for those who’ve come to see her.
There’s a touch of Janis Joplin about her. She belts out each song from the very depth of her body – a very powerful performer. She’s out supporting Rag ‘N’ Bone Man on tour this summer with her full band and it’ll be a great match.
She finishes her set with ‘Enjoy The Ride’ and we surely did!
Elles Bailey setlist:
‘1972’
‘Leave The Light On’
‘Silhouette In Summer’
Comes down into the crowd
‘Truth Ain’t Gonna Save Us’
‘Love Yourself’
‘Enjoy The Ride’
The love for Rag ‘N’ Bone Man from the audience explodes as he comes on stage.
Talking about Bexhill-on-Sea he told us that he;d “Never played a venue so close to my house” – he’s originally from Uckfield. On the drive over he hit a pot hole and had to be rescued by his tour manager but on the plus side he said it meant he could drink tequila as he wasn’t driving!
As well as past and present tracks there were two live debut tracks ‘Time To Love’ and ‘Ghosts’ which were sensational and showed ongoing development from this remarkable artist.
He’s backed by a amazing band creating a wall of wondrous noise. His two backing singers were superb with one delivering a duet with the man himself at one point
What a voice and what a show which finished with ‘Giant’ which certainly describes how I would describe Rag ‘N’ Bone Man – a giant in our music industry.
There were however a couple of negatives for me during the night. The constant shining a light on the audience was tiresome as was the amount of audience chatting which I heard many of my fellow audience members. I’ve never heard so much talking during a gig before.
As Rag ‘N’ Bone Man winds up the show he tells us not to buy his album but to buy the War Child t-shirts. This sums up the man’s gentle humanity.
It’s all about the songs – they speak for him.
Rag ‘N’ Bone Man Setlist:
‘Lovers In A Past Life’
‘Skin’
‘Time To Love’
‘The Right Way’
‘Hard Cam The Rain’
‘All You Ever Wanted’
‘Grace’
‘What Do You Believe In?’
‘Anywhere Away From Here’
‘Ghosts’
‘Crossfire’
‘BeThe Man’
‘Rush Of Blood’
‘Human’
(encore)
‘Put A Little Hurt On Me’
‘Giant’
