REVIEW: Dove Ellis at Sidney&Matilda
If you’re into indie music in the UK, you have likely heard the famous story of the Sex Pistols’ gig at the Manchester Free Trade Hall. Organised by Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto (who would go on to form The Buzzcocks and basically invent indie music), the attendee list for the gig has been mythologised. Tony Wilson, Martin Hannett, Morrissey, Mick Hucknall, Ian Curtis, Mark E. Smith, Peter Hook, the list goes on. As with all good myths, the veracity of the attendee list is up for debate, with David Nolan, author of I Swear, I Was There: The Gig That Changed The World, stating that, despite the venue’s 150 capacity,“by my reckoning seven and a half thousand were there supposedly, so something must have gone awry with the ticketing, apparently!”. But the influence and importance of that gig cannot be overstated.
People love the idea of attending one of these gigs. Seeing a band before they get really big. Even before the Sex Pistols, you had The Beatles in Hamburg. Often I have sat in The Grapes in Sheffield, nursing a pint of Guinness and wondering what it must have been like seeing the Arctic Monkeys play the small room upstairs. We’ve all heard the stories about Ed Sheeran busking. We all wish we could attend this sort of gig, to collect this sort of lore, to have the best story during some pub chat.
Well, I honestly think that watching Dove Ellis at Sidney&Matilda may be this sort of gig; seeing an artist before they’re destined to rise to the top.
I should probably make it clear from the start that I have a personal connection with the promoters of the gig. The Music Culture Society is easily one of the best societies at the University of Sheffield, and I was lucky to be a part of it a few years ago, in my final year of University. But, to be honest, if you are really bothered about the potential for bias in music, you need to go touch some grass.
This was the Music Culture Society’s first gig of the 2025/26 academic year, and there was a definite student buzz at Sidney&Matilda as we arrived at the venue, one that would make Paul Calf incensed with rage. It says a lot about the excitement for a gig that the venue was busy and buzzing before doors. We got a couple of pints in and mulled around outside with our friends for a bit, before (after a slight delay), heading down to the basement for the first act.
Photo: Noah Clark
Goat House Bridge, despite their relatively recent origins, are incredibly polished. The five-piece, made up of a drummer, a bassist, two guitarists/singers and, most importantly, a violinist, had managed to get a large crowd for their opening set. Such was the busy-ness of the basement that, in isolation, you would be forgiven for thinking Goat House Bridge were, in fact, the headliners. Their set definitely had the energy and passion you’d expect from a headline act. A six-song performance featuring an absolutely superb cover of ‘Harvest Moon’, Goat House Bridge certainly displayed a lot of talent. The two frontmen both alternated and shared vocals, with each singer having complementary yet different qualities that ensured each song felt perfectly unique, and with a real edge to them. The drumming and basslines were also brilliant, but the real stand-out of the set was the violin. Whoever first had the idea to add a violin to guitar bands is a genius, and Goat House Bridge are the best example of that. Sometimes leading the songs, other times in the background, adding a deeper dynamism to each track, it just levelled up Goat House Bridge’s sound that little bit extra. Whilst there are clear comparisons to contemporary bands like Man/Woman/Chainsaw, as well as more established artists like Guided By Voices, Goat House Bridge still manage to have that rare quality of being a band who seem truly unique. The standout track was their third, ‘Talk Catholic To Me’, and the band revealed that it would be released as a single soon. Keep an eye out for it, and remember the name Goat House Bridge: they are superb.
Photo: Noah Clark
After a brief break to go to the loo and get another drink (Sidney&Matilda currently have Warsteiner on and it is great), it was time for the second act, Drury Hill. I had not heard of this band before, and went in with no expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was a bit of a shift in gear towards a slower, softer sound, but they managed to make the change in tone work really well. A mix of jangly-pop and folk-rock, the Nottingham-based band played a beautiful set that perfectly bridged the gap between the openers and headliner. They were particularly good at engaging with the crowd, getting everyone to clap along in what felt like some sort of cosy spell being cast upon us.
Another break (but no more pints; working the next day!), and it was time for the headliner. Throughout the night, there was a real buzz about Dove Ellis. “Did you know he’s supporting Geese on their American tour?” was seemingly asked half a hundred times by various attendees throughout the night. The lack of much music on Spotify only seemed to add to the mystique, and if you were over the age of 30, it probably felt like the "good old days” of live music, where you’d rock up to a gig of an artist you’d heard of but knew nothing about, and couldn’t find out more. It was honestly brilliant, but it did have the effect of creating a fair bit of hype for our headliner. Hype that was very swiftly met. Dove Ellis was, quite simply, amazing. Playing to an absolutely rammed basement, the Irish singer-songwriter’s delicate yet powerful set had the crowd totally entranced. His voice is beautiful; soft yet piercing, able to really demonstrate the vulnerability present in his lyrics, whilst still maintaining an almost wistful energy. This was accentuated well with the backing instruments, specifically the saxophone, which managed to give the set an almost nostalgic quality. This was especially impressive considering this was the first time I had seen Dove Ellis live.
Photo: Noah Clark
Most reviews of Dove Ellis so far compare him to Jeff Buckley, and it is not hard to see why; the falsetto voice (that the latter’s album Grace is so associated with) is definitely also apparent in Ellis’ set. However, I also found myself thinking of Ezra Furman a lot during set, with the ability of Furman and Buckley to generate so much anger and heartbreak in their delicate voices evident in Ellis’ also. However, despite these clear musical comparisons, Dove Ellis is very much his own musician. His lyrics are gorgeous, and the overall chamber-pop sound of the backing music (himself on guitar, Fred Donlon-Mansbridge on sax, and Jake Brown on drums) combines effortlessly. It really is not hard to understand why Dove Ellis is an artist suddenly on the rise. He and his band are immensely talented, not just musically, but as live performers. They had the audience totally in the palm of their hand, and not a single note felt wasted. I would not be surprised if, in a few years, they are headlining far bigger stages, and when they do, you can be sure I will be telling everyone about the time I saw Dove Ellis play a student night in Sheffield.
Words: Charlie Sweeney
Photos: Noah Clark
