Welsh singer-songwriter Ben Ellis has been releasing music since 2022, rapidly growing himself a steady fanbase thanks to supporting other singer-songwriters on their tours, such as Henry Moodie and Alfie Jukes. Thanks to this fanbase, the artist has also been able to put on his own headline shows. A little over a year ago, the singer played a show in Melkweg, and now, on October 3rd, he played his second headline show in the Netherlands in Amsterdam’s Tolhuistuin. This show was a part of his tour entitled ‘Time Slows on Tour’ in support of his EP, the train where the time slows.
At 18:00, the first fifty or so fans made it into the venue to join Ben Ellis’ VIP party. During this hour, the singer treated those who had supported him a little extra by playing songs that didn’t make it onto the setlist and covers the fans could request themselves. As soon as the party, which had been completed by a conga line all around the room, ended, the rest of tonight’s attendees trickled into the venue. The hall definitely didn’t fill out, with the balcony left empty for the night, but that didn’t stop the fans nor tonight’s acts from having the best time. First up at 19:30 was Millichamp, a duo made up of “Mr. Tom Millichamp” himself, as he was introduced by the duo’s drummer, who also happens to be Millichamp’s best friend, Connor Osgood. Both men were dressed up to the nines in white dress shirts and ties. They opened their set with ‘i adore her already’, the multiple fans in attendance loudly singing and clapping along. The duo’s goal tonight was to “warm up [the] venue for a beautiful person called Ben Ellis” as they continued with ‘Wanna Be You’ and a cover of Djo’s ‘End of Beginning’.
Tonight’s setlist also included three unreleased songs, with at least two of them coming out this year. One is called ‘A Woman Like You’, written and produced entirely by Millichamp, and Millichamp said it will come out before the end of the year. While the duo played this track, the audience lit up the entire room with their flashlights. Another unreleased song they played was ‘This Kind of Love’, which they’ve been playing for the past two tours. This song will actually be released on October 8th. The crowd turned the room into one big party for this song, throwing a dozen balloons into the air. In between those two songs, Millichamp played ‘Wear Me Down ’, a song written about a girl that fucked Millichamp over and broke his heart. In the middle of their set, Millichamp stated that Amsterdam is one of his favourite places to have ever played and that this venue was the biggest on the tour so far. Millichamp played their own headline shows in the Netherlands last year, and are currently trying to plan another headline tour, despite others advising them against that because of the massive costs. Therefore, Millichamp asked the audience tonight if they’d sign up through the link in their bio so that they could get an idea of how many people are interested and can hopefully take a chance on booking a venue. Many people in the audience tonight knew the words to every released song, and even to a few of the unreleased ones, so surely they’d love for Millichamp to come back as soon as possible.
Half an hour after Millichamp’s set, after the stage had been decorated with lamps and a TV that displayed the name ‘Ben Ellis’ surrounded by stars, the singer himself made it onto the stage together with his guitarist Ellis Blake and drummer Tom Walters. Ellis opened tonight’s set with ‘Holding Onto Nothing’ and ‘Ed’s House’. For the latter, the balloons reappeared in the air as Ellis shouted that he “[wants to] start the night the way we [want to] end it”, namely with a lot of energy. The fans showed they were definitely capable of that by singing, dancing, and even jumping along to the songs where possible. In between playing songs, Ellis told the crowd that last time he played here as support for Sadie Jean, of which Melomaniacs’ review can be found here, the fire alarm went off during his set. He hoped this wouldn’t be the case again tonight – and fortunately for him, this did in fact not happen.
After playing ‘No One Sleeps in Hollywood’, Ellis spoke to the audience about how he named the tour ‘Time Slows on Tour’ because his goal was to create a space where one could just listen to music and forget about everything going on in their life. Another reason to name it this was that it feels like the end of the era of the train where the time slows, as he stated that he “finally found [his] voice and what [he] wants to say in music”. Ellis’ songs are relatable anecdotes of situations the singer himself has gone through. For example, he wrote the next song, ‘end of days’, about friends that you miss but don’t necessarily want back in your life. During this song, the audience held up blue stars, which Ellis found to be beautiful. The singer then taught his fans some of the words to an unreleased song of his, ‘i could be your man’, which was followed by ‘Sofia’ and ‘DEEP!’. For the latter, Ellis played the tambourine as the crowd enthusiastically clapped along. A drum solo at the end of ‘Half the Time’ gave Ellis time to leave the stage, leaving the crowd wondering what he was up to. The singer reappeared in the middle of the crowd for a cover of One Direction’s ‘Little Black Dress’. The crowd was even more excited now that they could get up close and personal with their favourite singer, taking this moment to dance and sing with him.
When Ellis made it back onto the stage, he continued with ‘move, honey’, followed by the “depressing”, according to the singer himself, song ‘animal’. From here on out, the songs mostly flowed effortlessly into one another, with Ellis barely speaking in between as he made it through the final five songs. These included both songs from his latest EP as well as from The Hollywood EP, with the fans singing along to all of them. Ellis ended the set with ‘Does It Get Cold in California’ and ‘when it ends’, a very fitting title. Ellis and his band handed out their sticks, picks, and setlists to their adoring fans before leaving the stage. The crowd surely had a lovely time at tonight’s gig, and we can’t wait to see what Ben Ellis will be up to next. Maybe a debut album?
