Gig review: KRIS BARRAS BAND – The Forum, Tunbridge Wells, 7 February 2023

February 9th, 2023 by andynathan

If there were a prize for the hardest working band in rock, the Kris Barras Band must be in contention. This second full length tour in 10 months takes in a remarkable 25 dates and despite these difficult times has been selling very well.

Having seen the band several times as a support or at festivals this was actually the first time I’d seen a full length show. There were multiple dates within reach of my London base and as I couldn’t make the date in the Capital at the Garage, instead I made a midweek post-work trip down to the Kent spa town of Tunbridge Wells, home of the mythical retired colonel writing letters of disgust to the Daily Telegraph, but with a surprisingly thriving local music scene.

The Forum is a small venue – on this occasion tightly packed to its 250 capacity – with a reputation for attracting major bands to do one off shows, deservedly so on the basis of a pristine sound tonight. It is actually a converted toilet in a town that seems to specialise in inventive uses: after a dinner in an old Opera House now housing a Wetherspoon but keeping its original interior, en route to the venue I passed a church turned into a gym.

Anyway, after that architectural detour, back to the music, starting with a very impressive support act in Dea Matrona, a Belfast trio with young frontwomen Mollie McGinn and Orlaith Forsythe. Unusually they constantly swapped bass and guitar duties while their vocals intertwined seamlessly and they had a very engaging stage presence.

Opener ‘Stamp On It’ had a glitter stomp to it while ‘It’s Only Music’ called to mind The Runaways. They weren’t afraid to cover a number of bases, from ‘Just Wanna Rock’ which sounded like something the Amorettes would have put out, to the out and out folk of ‘Glory Glory and a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Homeward Bound’. Seemingly drawing influence from Joan Jett’s ‘I Hate Myself For Loving You’, ‘Make You My Star’ ended a very pleasant set from a band recommended for lovers of acts such as the Hot Damn. They are doing a headline tour in May and I suspect we may be hearing a lot more from them.

With the place heaving the Kris Barras Band boldly opened their set with a signature song in ‘Hail Mary’ which would more usually be saved to an end of set audience participation number. But the majority of the set was from latest album ‘Death Valley Paradise’ and ‘Dead Horses’ and ‘These Voices’, featuring an introductory solo from new bassist Fraser Kerslake who fitted in seamlessly, had heavy and modern arrangements yet with Kris’s vocals keeping them melodic.

He more than once referred to the band’s new heavier sound and even an oldie like ‘Heart On Your Sleeve’ was adapted to the new style, but the way he followed an insidious repeated riff with a rapid, feedback-strewn solo was a relatively rare illustration that a guitar hero is still at large.

However ‘Wake Me When It’s Over’ was a fine modern pop rock ballad, and both ‘Hostage’ and ‘Chaos’ were heavier, indeed with an almost industrial beat at times, and guitar solos were kept to a minimum. Indeed on ‘Devil You Know’ which would have given Those Damn Crows a run for their money he left guitar duties to able long time sidekick Josiah J Manning and went into the crowd himself.

Kris movingly spoke of his late father who was a musician but never got to see his own success prior to ‘Watching Over Me’, a soulful blues with some wonderful extended soloing from him worthy of Gary Moore. It felt odd though that his change of musical style has been so abrupt this was the only even vaguely bluesy number in the set and personally I would have preferred to hear a couple more.

A cover of ‘Rock And Roll’ was faithfully executed, right from the moment Billy Hammett knocked out that iconic drum pattern, and gave the band an opportunity to jam and even segued into Carry On Wayward Son, but it is one of those songs so overplayed to become a cliché.

It was back to the new stuff with the aggressive urgency of ‘Who Needs Enemies’ then ‘My Parade’ proved a real fist puncher with Kris parting the crowd like the red sea to indulge in some audience participation in his gruff, drill sergeant like manner. There was a solitary encore in ‘Ignite (Light it Up)’, another with anthemic qualities, which seemed to be over too soon.

Kris Barras has pulled off a bold move in executing a sharp turn in musical direction away from blues rock and towards a heavier and more contemporary sound, but there were few grumbles on this night. With his band, he is on top of his game, and fully deserving of the success that his work ethic seems to be bringing.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)