Kris Barras Band/Dea Matrona/Black Water Redemption

February 3, 2023 Off By Jon

Old Fire Station, Bournemouth

After seeing the Kris Barras Band locally a couple of times at the Winter’s End Festival; when it was in Sandford (Near Wareham, Dorset) and once at the wonderful Love Rocks Festival in Ferndown, it is hard not to be impressed by the live performance and their ability to brainwash you with their almost constant stream of Rock Radio play. Tonight the band roll into Bournemouth as part of their “This Is My Parade” tour in support of their recent album “Death Valley Paradise”.

Before the headliners, there’s a couple of support acts laid on to get the evening underway. The first of these starts at the early hour of 6:30pm; this is because of the venue curfew of 10pm, as it is shared with a club night that starts straight afterwards. Despite the early start Black Water Redemption (Formerly Known as Western Sand) are straight out of the blocks and firing on all cylinders from the off. The pairing of brothers in Arms, long-term friends Tyler and Jimmy; gives the band their wondrously creative guitar sound with both of them taking turns at lead. Dan De Vires on bass provides some solid resounding with his four strings, while in-demand drummer Zoot Hill-Valler attacks his kit with plenty of ferocious skill with unbounded energy.

Black Water Redemption 1–2–3–4

The crowd are quick to react to this local band and clearly enjoys all they have to offer. We are treated to 30 minutes of six of the band’s best creations and each was played with the same enthusiasm as the last. The final song “Going Down” featured some six-string wizardry as the two guitarists match each other note for note on the crescendo of the number. The band leave the stage triumphant and are given plenty of welcome support from their home town crowd.

The main tour support for this tour is Belfast three-piece Dea Matrona (Translated means “Divine Mother Goddess”) featuring former school friends Mollie McGinn and Orlaith Forsythe with Jamie Hewitt on drums. Kicking off with “Stamp on It”, the band show off their divine harmonies and musical prowess. There is certainly a 70’s Rock vein running through the music with plenty of their band’s own rich stylings. The crowd don’t need any encouragement, the music is doing this by itself; with an early cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well”, along with some of the band’s excellent original material including “Get My Mind Off” and “So Damn Dangerous”. The girls take turns playing bass and guitar, showing off their considerable multi-instrumental skills.

Dea Matrona 1–2–3

We are treated to a two-song acoustic section featuring the band’s recent single “Glory Glory (I Am Free)” and an enchanting version of Paul Simon’s “Homewood Bound”, with yet more of those glorious harmonies. There have been some great bands in the past from North of the Irish border: The Undertones, Van Morrison, Stiff Little Fingers, Therapy, Ricky Warwick, Gary Moore and clearly the rich Northern Irish talent is flowing readily through Dea Matrona and they look set to be added to this hall of fame. This audience and I have certainly seen something quite special here tonight.

In here tonight there is a feeling of great anticipation for the Kris Barras Band’s first headline show in Bournemouth, which seems surreal after all that the band have achieved to date. The lights go down and the intro music starts as the band take to the stage with a really warm welcome from the near-capacity crowd. The band features the newest member, bassist Frazer Kerslake, guitarist Josiah J. Manning, drummer Billy Hammett and of course they kick off strongly with “Hail Mary”. The first thing I notice is how tidy the stage is with all guitars being cordless and the drum riser at an angle giving a perfect view. For an OCD stage manager like me, this is indeed great to see.

These guys all work as a really tight unit and even with the addition of the new bassist, Frazer and his mega wide-fretted 6-string guitar; everything is executed with exact precision. Much of the set is culled from the recent album and the newer songs like “Dead Horses” and the lockdown-inspired “Wake Me When It’s Over” sound even better live than they do on record. The band’s delivery, performance and energy just makes a significant mark on these compositions.

Kris Barras Band 1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8–9–10

One of the highlights of the evening is the emotive track “Watching Over Me”, a song Kris wrote about his father who suddenly died of cancer at only 54 years old. His Father bought Kris his first guitar at the age of six and helped him to discover a host of great music. The track is beautifully written, and there has been much care and attention taken over its creation. The solo in the song is outstanding and as Kris plays it the guitar notes speak to the listener, just like the late great Gary Moore used to. I confess to few tears myself, it was such an emotional moment; something very few artists are able to capture correctly.

There is a reworked and extended version of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll”, where the five guys on stage had some serious fun enjoying delivering this classic. The evening ends with Kris jumping into the audience and leading the excited crowd for a mass sing-a-long to “My Parade”. The band bid their goodbyes and leave the stage briefly, before returning for an encore of “Ignite (Light it up)” and once again the crowd sing the chorus at the tops of their voices. The band are clearly pleased with tonight’s great reaction from the audience, they each sign about half a dozen set lists and hand them out to lucky fans in the crowd. A really fantastic night of great music and one I’m sure all that were here will remember for a long time to come.

Set Lists
Kris Barras Band
Intro
Hail Mary
Dead Horses
These Voices
Heart on Your Sleeve
Wake Me When It’s Over
Hostage
Chaos
Devil You Know
Watching Over Me
Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin cover)
Who Needs Enemies
My Parade

Encore
Ignite (Light it up)

Dea Matrona
Stamp On It
Oh Well (Fleetwood Mac cover)
It’s Only Music
Get My Mind Off
Nobody’s Child
So Damn Dangerous
Just Wanna Rock
Glory, Glory (I Am Free)
Homeward Bound (Simon & Garfunkel cover)
Red Button
Make You My Star

Black Water Redemption
Going Down
?
Tombstones and Deadwood
The Angels Share And The Devil Cut
Welcome to the Badlands
Going Down

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