Friendship matters in music. You can feel it when it’s real, and you can definitely feel it here.
Elles Bailey has been friends with Caitlin Krisko for years, and as ever she’s the one doing the introductions — handpicking her supports and bringing them on stage herself, complete with fairy smut socks and a grin that suggests she knows exactly how good this is going to be.
Krisko, over from North Carolina and here with her new husband (“this is essentially our honeymoon,” she laughs), delivers a support set that feels anything but perfunctory.
“Let It Ride” is stripped back to acoustic, and it proves that theory right away — the best songs always translate. There’s just enough sass in it to hook you in. “Blue Heron,” inspired by the mountains of Appalachia, stretches out with a sense of place, while “Drown In My Own Tears” nods to Aretha Franklin — her hero — as she channels Ray Charles with real class.
By the time she reaches “Halfway There,” a new song dedicated to her late mother, the room is completely still — and “Haunted by You” keeps things fragile and ethereal.
It’s only with “Come and Go Blues” that things finally loosen up, the band stretching into something timeless, all echoes of the late, great Kelly Joe Phelps and that beautifully soulful voice soaring over a gorgeous solo. It’s been “pin-drop quiet” until then.
Back in that song for her mother, she’d sung, “Mama told me that life ain’t fair…”
If it was, she’d already be filling rooms like this on her own.
“Ten years in the writing, three years in the making…”
Elles pauses.
“Coventry — tonight, the ‘Can’t Take My Story Away’ tour is yours.”
And from there, it is.
“Can’t Take My Story Away” opens, before “Growing Roots” follows as the second song — full of warmth and soul. She can sing anything, and alongside players like Joe Wilkins, even an all-seated crowd finds itself moving in its chairs.
“Better Days” (the Catfish cover) feels especially poignant, a celebration of her late friend Matt Long, and when she sits down to deliver it, you’re reminded that Bailey doesn’t just perform — she loves what she does. That joy is infectious.
A word too for the stunning horn section — Paul Jordanous (of Rag’n’Bone Man’s band) alongside Sophie Stockland-Brown, an old friend — adding colour, depth, and real class throughout.
“How Do You Do It” is fascinating in this setting — hearing these songs brought to life by a full band when they weren’t originally recorded that way gives them a new dimension. “Deeper” sees her joking about forgetting songs she’s written before dipping back into “The Road I Call Home” material.
And then there’s that voice.
Honestly, you could listen to her sing an eviction notice.
“Help Somebody” lands with real weight — “in a world you can be anything, be kind,” she says — and Demi Marriner’s harmonies lift it even higher. Their take on “Love Me Like a Man” (the Bonnie Raitt cover, as heard on Cerys Matthews’ Radio 2 show) swings with a New Orleans second line feel, before “Constant Need to Keep Going” bares her soul — slide guitar underscoring the country-tinged honesty of a song written in-between everything else.
There’s a moment where she reads from her story — about losing her voice, about vulnerability. “I’ve got to milk the story thing, right?” she laughs. But there’s truth in it, and that truth runs deep.
“Best Believe” shakes things loose with an upbeat boogie, and “1972” finds drummer Matthew Jones locked in as Bailey admits she’s “melting” in her dress but clearly loving every second. “Angel” leans into jazzier territory — trumpet lines dancing through a band that is, frankly, second to none, with keys from Jonny Henderson adding another layer of richness.
“Let It Burn,” with Bailey at the piano, is simply stunning.
“Tightrope” might be her most vulnerable moment of the night, before “Love Yourself” kicks off a celebratory run that embraces the glow of “Neon Glow” — culminating in “Leave the Light On,” a nod to the husband who stays home so she can “tell these stories with this incredible band.”
“If This Is Love” closes the main set with just the right amount of sass.
The encore? Just as good.
“What’s the Matter With You” is slow and slinky, and “Take a Step Back” brings Demi Marriner back into the spotlight — cowbell in hand, and yes, it’s glorious.
In the room next door, Professor Brian Cox is talking about planets, the universe, and how everything aligns.
In here, it already has.
Elles Bailey and her band are stars.
That’s my story — and I’m sticking to it.
Photos: Rich Ward
