Last night, Sunday 26 October, Kris Barras’ Hollow Souls brought their unique infusion of Blues and Rock ’N’ Roll to The Waterfront, Norwich.
First up was supporting act Troy Redfern, who came on stage brining a massive and immediate energy that got the crowd dancing along and absolutely hyped up with his super catchy rhythmic songs. It really surprised us how much noise Troy (Vocals and guitars) and Alex Bridge (Drums) managed to generate between the two of them. Troy Redfern played a mix of previous work and three of his new songs from his new album “Retribution”. The new songs; “Shakin”, “Taking My Soul” and “Aching Heart” were a massive hit with the crowd. We weren’t familiar with Troy Redfern, but we are glad that we caught them here as we enjoyed their set a lot – seemingly, so did the crowd as they were super interactive throughout and left a great impression on many.
Kris Barras’ Hollow Souls took the stage shortly after Troy Redfern’s set. The Hollow Souls built up a very mysterious atmosphere with some instrumentals before every member joined the stage. They were all received incredibly warmly by the attendees, with cheering and clapping. They started their set by playing “Borderline”, which was quickly followed up by a cover of the Led Zeppelin classic “Rock and Roll” – always one to get a crowd going. These were, as expected, massive hits with the crowd as they jumped, foot tapped, and head bopped along to the super catchy and upbeat rhythm.
They played a mix of back catalogue and current work, blending in some well presented covers of work by T-Bone Walker, Freddie King and B.B. King just to keep things especially interesting. Kris was super interactive with the crowd, telling some jokes and even teasing a new album in the works with a possible December release (just in time for Christmas!). We’re looking forward to seeing where this teaser leads. We’ve also got to mention just how powerful and angelic Phoebe Jane’s vocals were through out the whole set – in her long notes especially, we could really hear the old school country/blues vibes which were absolutely out of this world as we don’t always come across such raw vocal talent on the live stage. It’d be doing a disservice not to mention the talent on display from the rest of the band too; Joe Harris on drums, Leighton Allen on bass and Kris Barras on guitar and vocals. Both vocalists dedicated a song each to their special someone; Phoebe Jane dedicated “Rock Me Baby”, a B.B. King cover, to her dad for introducing her to the blues, before Kris Barras dedicated “Chasing Ghosts”; a beautifully raw track about losing that special someone and just not being able to move past it. We could really feel the sorrow in his voice in this track, which clearly means so much and comes across so powerfully live.
The set continued with the catchy and heavy track “Shotgun”, which was very pleasing to our ears and clearly the crowd’s, as they danced energetically throughout. A highlight from this song is a really cool guitar solo that got the room whooping and cheering. The interaction between the band and the crowd was both intimate and energetic, with the fans clapping, tapping and singing along whenever Kris asked for a backing track! The next song up was “Propane”, which was our absolute favourite from the entire set. “Propane” starts as a bit of a slow burner before spontaneously gaining a galloping tempo and showcasing your typical catchy blues rock. The next song was “Stormy Monday”; another typical blues number featuring Phoebe Jane’s beautiful vocals that made us all sway along to every note.
The Hollow Souls had a really catchy and infectious vibe through out the entire concert; we really enjoyed every moment and made sure we joined along with the crowd, getting lost in the rhythm and passion of the music on display. Despite this, we absolutely weren’t prepared for what came as soon “Burn It To The Ground” started. As soon as the band started playing, every single person in the room clapped along to the beat of the drums; we were so taken back by just how well the band had worked the crowd here. “Burn It To The Ground” had a strong Southern feel to it, ithe kind where you just can’t help but dance and clap along to it. It was a beautiful feeling as everyone joined along. We really couldn’t be happier with the fact that we got to attend this gig as the majority of the songs, even the slower ones, were absolute hits bursting with attitude and emotion. The penultimate song was “Hail Mary”, with the Hollow Souls breaking out an electric version of the song, with the original being an acoustic track. This song was a cover from Kris Barras’ previous band. We love an acoustic song but we think that this electric version sounded amazing and really suited a live setting like this where bands really get the chance to crank up the noise and just see the crowd go wild. The final song was “Going Down” a cover of Freddie King, and when we say that the crowd when crazy we absolutely mean every letter of the word crazy. The entire room was jumping and singing along – what a way to close a show!
As we mentioned, this was our first time watching and listening to Kris Barras’ Hollow Souls. We thought that they were absolutely a great listen with their Rock Blues, catchy riffs and beats and raw vocals. The Waterfront Studio provided such an intimate setting for this kind of rough and ready rock and roll, which allowed for some brilliant crowd interaction too. So if Rock ’N’ Roll infused with Blues is your kind of thing, or if you’d just like to give it a go (we’re glad we did), then don’t miss out on the rest of their UK tour, as they still have shows in: Grimsby, Huddersfield, Birmingham, Stockton, Carlisle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, York, Blackpool, Southampton and Tavistock left on their tour.
Get tickets from: www.hollowsouls.co.uk/tour
Waiting for Setlist.fm updated setlist