A charismatic artist who lives in Brooklyn, New York, Ella Jane graced her fans at the High Noon Saloon last Thursday night. Her powerful vocals and intimate disposition towards the crowd were telling of her character and performance mastery.
Ash Tuesday, Jane's fourth-time opener from Macon, Georgia, set the night's tone with angsty pop songs executed with impressive voice control. Alongside immensely talented drummer Isabella — known as Splendi on Spotify — and guitarist Sophie Price, the three covered Demi Lovato's "La La Land," a nostalgic hit that warmed up the crowd for Jane's setlist.
It was "detrimental weather for me but a Thursday for y'all," said Tuesday. Her dry humor was playful, and she made it a point to thank the resilient Wisconsin crowd for their attendance on the snowy evening.
Jane entered the stage wearing a black blazer embellished with white embroidery that read "EJ" and "Marginalia," the title of her nine-track album released in 2022. Her platinum blonde cut reflected the pink and red lights trickling into her loving crowd. Jane has an infectious smile and between water sips she would speak to the audience as if she'd known them her whole life.
It's no surprise that Jane has a loyal fanbase. From the first song she performed, "7," she interacted directly with her audience, made herself available to photographers and smiled for fans’ videos. She related to attendees by detailing her experience growing up in a small town, touching on the familiarity of sitting in empty parking lots and going to drive-throughs when opportunities were sparse. This translated into her song "AUGUST IS A FEVER" that fans eagerly clapped along to.
A group of four friends and family members said they'd seen Jane perform three times and simply had to come to a fourth performance. Julia, a high schooler from Wauwatosa whose favorite song of Jane's is "bored & blind," also attended alongside her mom.
Between pulling out an acoustic guitar to play her song "time on" in which she joked about a tumultuous experience with a British man during her one year of college and moving onto the keyboard for "Thief," an emotion-packed song, Jane proved her multifacetedness. Members of the crowd cried as Jane sang, "I think I'm pushing my luck too far trying to get back to where we are."
Jane went on to sing Paramore's "Ain't It Fun," where she and her bandmates, guitarist Nicole and drummer Quentin, lit up the venue. There was singing on the floor and an explosion of laughter from the stage.
"God Bless Paramore," said Jane.
During "Calling Card," the crowd was split into sections to sing along, and Jane beamed with pride as she heard its "la la la la's". The band also played the songs "Sore Loser," "You Shouldn't Have Said That," "Warhol," "I Wanna," "The City," "Crash Cart" and closed with, "nothing else i could do."
Jane has a broad range from raspy to whimsical high notes that pierce through her ballads. She has a confidence that is convincing and inspiring. She noted the three-year anniversary of "the city" along with her fanbase, whom she wasn't afraid to walk among when cheering on her opener.
"At the end the change is you guys." she said. "I was so young and had no idea you guys are out here."
There will be many more of us out here as Jane continues her musical career. She announced Friday, Feb. 24 on her Instagram, @ellajanemusic that she would be releasing a deluxe version of "Marginalia" on March 24 with two "reimagined" songs.
