Elli Ingram at Omeara

The Omeara is a versatile and cool events space hidden away in the arches behind Borough Market. Tucked in amongst various bars and places to eat is a small gig venue. The room is a heady combination of grunge and grandeur. Walls covered in cracked paint and exposed plaster surround a gilded stage; it’s run-down ritzy. It suits Elli Ingram’s voice and style perfectly. She sings passionately yet seemingly effortlessly, with a cool, soulful grace, however, between numbers might shout “Fuck!” multiple times at the audience.

Ingram is an incredibly endearing performer. She treats playing to a sold-out venue as if it were a table down the pub full of her mates. Performing songs from her new album for the first time she speaks candidly about the inspirations behind them, including a very personal track about her relationship with her dad – whom she introduces to the crowd – and eating “the fattest cheese and pickle roll”. So endeared are the audience that no one seems to mind at all when she forgets the lyrics to a song. Instead, she simply climbs off stage for a quick consultation with a devoted fan who knows the words.

As a straight-talking, slightly coarse, female British soul-singer, comparisons with other musicians will come flying thick and fast. Elli Ingram is her own artist and it was not doing covers of Adele or Winehouse that got her noticed. She chose instead to bring her jazz stylings to a Kendrick Lamar track. It is this playfulness with her genre and talent that makes her so intensely likeable.

The small venue is filled with beautiful and soulful music. Supported by a fantastic band, the singer’s vocals are powerful and voluptuous. From her first note we are won over. It is impossible not to groove along, being moved by the music. The harmony between the artist and the space on this occasion is brilliant, but it appears that Elli Ingram feels at home wherever she performs.

Miranda Slade
Photos: Guifre de Peray

For further information and future events visit the Elli Ingram website here.

Watch the video for Table for Two here: