It’s difficult to know how to take the use of backing tracks so overtly on stage. This is a challenge for the solo performer as they work their way up, graduating from the bedroom to the stage.

Review and Photos by Stuart Duthie

Equally I have seen solo artists completely let down by their band when it’s clear the passion and non-musical elements of the support just aren’t there. Tonight tracks that journey from back bedroom to stage, and we start with Dawson Gamble opening to an already crowded Wardrobe.

The male singer songwriter with beard and acoustic guitar field has become increasingly crowded. It’s a long trend from the band domination of the ‘80s to the current charts now where bands are something of a rarity. Rather than take the acoustic route Dawson elects to go electric, with original backing tracks on his laptop.

He bought clear diction and sweet rhymes to us, with songs such as the aptly titled ‘80s Movie. He proved a nice warm up for the evening.

We are not kept waiting long until Ella Red bursts onto the stage with Parasite, the opening track of her album It’s Not Real. In fact, it definitely was real tonight with an unexpected tenderness and intimacy to her performance that I wasn’t expecting having listened to her album.

She adds a live drummer to the stage, and, for me, this really helped with the live feel. It proves the value and analogue emotion that emanates from a human rather than a machine.

Ella’s performance is full of presence, and the audience is fully supportive as she sings about her challenges in Aphrodite. She said the song means a lot to her and you can see it touches the audience too. She rewards them by stepping up the pace with the misleadingly titled Funeral, perhaps that’s the perfect follow up to Aphrodite.

I almost forgot to mention (and Ella only mentioned it halfway through her set) that she makes her own dresses. You can see from the photos that is no mean feat – a talented artist!

Then LØLØ takes to the stage and forces me to the special characters section for this review. She has toured with Ella Red in the USA and met fellow Torontonian Dawson Gamble when he was playing in a bar there. This does give the feeling of a bunch of mates on tour.

Just before the headline started a couple of wooden boxes were placed at the front of the stage. We were treated to a “dear diary entry” and then LØLØ exploded to the stage and fully utilised those boxes in a super energetic performance.

I had hoped to see LØLØ when she played Download festival last year – mid afternoon on Kerrang’s Avalanche stage – somehow, I just wasn’t in the right place at the right time. So, it was great to see her in the confines of The Wardrobe.

Although rockier than her album, accompanied by a full band, I suspect she would have still would have been one of the poppier acts at Download. It wasn’t just the presence of the band; it was the interaction between them and LØLØ. They looked like a unit rather than a backing band in the shadows… this is a good thing!

Although she tends towards a ditzy persona, she sings about toxic relationships, where you know that the other person is no good for you, but you can’t help keeping going back to them, as well as the damage that a controlling relationship can do to your mental health.

Everyone is up for her performance complete with super fans on the front rail. You know, the types who go to all her gigs on a tour. One – I am sure she said she was called Kelsey – joined LØLØ on stage during her single Debbie Downer.

Both Ella and LØLØ are great performers, with LØLØ making sure she engaged every single people in the room, paying back their support with a glance, a smile and sometimes a hug. And when Ella joined LØLØ back on stage for Delusional Darling, it was great to see them performing together. What did I say about it being mates on tour?

Dawson Gamble, Ella Red and LØLØ played at The Wardrobe, Leeds on Saturday 9 May 2026.