Kris Barras' Hollow Souls & Troy Redfern

Waterloo Music Bar, Blackpool - Well, as drives to work go, that was quite pleasant. Tonight, I’m at the seaside and it’s all lit up. My route to work takes me down the Promenade and under a ceiling of lights that cascades across the road and back again as I drive down it, with characters from my childhood still featuring - are Sooty and Sweep still a thing, surely not ! ! This is a place that I loved as a kid, acted daft in more times that I can remember when I was a lad, and was the only place to come for a mad weekend or stag do, but a place that I then grew out of and never came back to, for many, many years - until one of its venues started to appear on my gig schedule, and as a much better option that having to navigate the hideous road network in Birmingham’s city centre, so tonight, I’m in… Blackpool !

I’ve been in Blackpool quite a few times over the past couple of years for gigs, but swathes of it, in fact, most of it is still as tacky as ever, and many of my old haunts have either closed down or been knocked down. The big hotel chains have arrived and killed off many of the back street guest houses - which is no bad thing in many cases, and long overdue - but the illuminations are still a huge draw at this time of year and still bring in much of Blackpool’s annual revenue.

For me though, it’s the aforementioned gig venue that brings me back this weekend, and to see a band that I saw only two weeks ago, out in the Staffordshire countryside. Then, it was the Foxlowe Arts Centre that played host, tonight, it’s the Waterloo Music Bar, a place I’ve waxed lyrical about a few times before, so you’ll excuse me if I do a cheeky bit of cutting and pasting here, won’t you ?

…for the uninitiated that haven’t yet sampled the musical wonder that is the Waterloo Music Bar, it’s a big, old pub from years gone by, ‘converted’ into a different kind of music venue from those on the Promenade, with a raised stage at one end and one almighty mother of a mixing desk at the other, the size of which is bigger than some of the rooms in many a guest house - 48 channels mono and 40 stereo, if you’re into that sort of thing, seven foot of loveliness and the ultimate Fisher Price Activity Centre with the thick end of a 1,000 knobs and sliders, I kid you not kind people.

Every inch of the walls and ceiling are covered in memorabilia from bands that have played there and many more that haven’t. Guitars and other instruments also adorn the walls and drums that have seen better days have been de-skinned and now act as lampshades over the bar. Bass drums have been upended and had a slab of timber fitted on top, to act as a table, as have a few oil drums. Oh, and there’s a 1960’s style Mini that’s gate-crashed the place and teeters directly over the doorway. There’s a fair few tribute acts that grace the stage during the week, but this is Blackpool after all and it’s to be expected - if ‘tributes’ draw the punters in and they drink lots of beer, you can’t really argue.

Tonight, it’s an authentic band that will take to the stage, and cover versions are only limited to really cool bands – there’ll be no Celine Dion or Dolly Parton here tonight. The headliner comes in the form of Kris Barras’ new creation, Hollow Souls and there’s a Support in the form of a serious grafter when it comes to performing live, Troy Redfern.

Time for curtain up.

Troy Redfern – I could easily be accused of stalking this Fella, such is the amount of times that I’ve photographed him, but as we’re linked by the same PR people, I have an excuse - that and the fact that he puts in a fair few Support slots for headliners such as Phillip Sayce and Samantha Fish. I’m not complaining though as Redfern is always good value for money. Tonight, he’s accompanied by drummer Paul Annis. The delights of Keira Kenworthy and her bass will have to wait for another day.

Redfern’s also taken his chance to release some new material for this Support tour, in the form of the limited-edition CD ‘Retribution’, which is where he starts tonight, with two of the tracks, ‘Shakin’ and ‘Taking My Soul’. Blackpool perhaps wasn’t ready for Troy and casting a few looks around the room, I see faces wondering what the hell was going on, and where the rest of the sound was coming from seeing as there were only two on stage.

It wasn’t long before they got it though, especially as a Redfern ‘classic’, ‘Native was up next and this got a really good response, as Blackpool got into their groove. Another track from ‘Retribution’, ‘Aching Heart’ saw the slide go into overdrive and the thundering drums from Annis punch through with venom. This carried on with a blistering version of ‘Waiting for Your Love’, and another ‘classic’ to finish with ‘Sanctify’, which seemed like a twelve-inch version and jam session all rolled into one.

Blackpool has wised up to Redfern by now, with his mass of energy and ‘wake up, I’m here’ attitude and was well onside with what he had to offer. Maybe this was Redfern’s first time performing in Blackpool, I don’t know, but I guarantee, it won’t be his last.

Troy Redfern – Lineup

Troy Redfern - Guitar, Lead Vocals

Paul Annis - Drums and Percussion

*Images of Troy Redfern are from the gig

at Foxlowe Arts Centre in Leek

Troy Redfern - Setlist

1.     Shakin (From New Album ‘Retribution’)

2.    Taking My Soul (From New Album ‘Retribution’)

3.    Native

4.    Aching Heart (From New Album ‘Retribution)

5.    John the Revelator

6.    Waiting For Your Love

7.    Sanctify

Kris Barras’ Hollow Souls - Now, the Kris Barras Band has been around for quite a while and has a following all of its own, but as the band got heavier, by Barras’ own admission, a lot of their material, whilst still good, just didn’t fit anymore, so Barras came up the idea of a side project, as he calls it, and one where he didn’t have to do all of the vocals. So, Hollow Souls was borne.

To launch the project, he had the idea to tour and somehow a twenty-date affair was created - twenty dates for a new band of sorts, that no one had ever really heard of. Madness or inspirational ? Only time would tell.

I caught them almost at the end, eighteen nights in, having already had a sneak peek early doors in Leek, and in a further attempt at getting acquainted, I cast a beady eye on YouTube and get confronted with tonight’s opening tune. ‘Borderline’ is a banger of a tune (get me getting down with the kids - ‘banger’ for goodness’ sake), anyway it’s a good way to start things off. There inevitably had to be a few covers to fill the set and song two is ’Rock and Roll’ with a big twist as it’s sung by a lass. Phoebe Jane has taken over the lead vocalship, having rolled up one day to do some bv’s for Barras and made him pay attention with her ability so much that he gave her the job of fronting this new band. A good choice, as she can hit a note when she wants to.

‘Bad Things’ is the second tune taken from their EP released to coincide with the tour - and we would get to hear the other four as the night went on - and by now, Blackpool has warmed up nicely and the place had started to bounce. Barras was throwing riffs around as if they were ten a’penny and Phoebe Jane’s vocals hadn’t diminished any of Barras’ back catalogue one bit. In fact, they’ve given them a whole new dimension and Blackpool approved greatly.

The lady can also heap load of emotion in a tune as she showed with ‘Rock Me Baby’, a song, she tells us that her dad used to play to her and was her introduction to the blues. Well done, Dad.

‘Propane’ is one of those Barras tracks that doesn’t fit anymore, says the man himself, but is firmly at home here, and it’s a tune that tonight’s crowd had been waiting for, judging by the response, and it’s ‘catchiness’ wasn’t lost on anyone as there were a good few singing along. Same thing happened with ‘Burn It to the Ground’ but not before they’d slowed things down quite a bit with a heavy-duty blues tune, ‘Stormy Monday’ which saw fellow ‘Souler’ Josiah J. Manning esq. deliver a delightful keyboard solo, that hit right home. Right time, right place.

‘Chasing Ghosts’ was meant to be sung by a guest vocalist, as it was in Leek also “but it didn’t happen” says Barras, then or now. We have no idea who that should be as it was never disclosed - on a need-to-know basis, I guess - so Barras himself took on the job.

As we head for the home straight, a couple of KBB ‘classics’ are called for, so ‘My Parade’ gets everyone revved up and vocally prepared for the final tune ‘Hail Mary’ which damned near took the roof off. A piece of stadium rock of the highest order.

The band take their leave with a huge cheer and raucous round of applause, but Blackpool wasn’t about to head for their ‘digs’ just yet, and as the lights hadn’t gone up, everyone smelt an encore, which we got as everyone left the stage long enough for it to take effect - but not before a dozen had headed for the exit. A tram to catch perhaps ? ?

‘Goin’ Down’ was the tune that finished everything off, what you might call the twelve-inch version of too, as Troy Redfern returned for a heavy hitting, jam type session that was a pleasure to see.

So, as side projects go, this can only be described as a rip-roaring success, if you believe the people of Leek and Blackpool - other reviews bear testimony too, by all accounts. There was a solid back line provided by Tilke on drums and Blight on bass, some nifty back up guitar and sublime keyboards from Manning, Barras was his normal self, with riffs, banter and the kind of performance you always expect and get, but I have to give the final credit to Phoebe Jane, whose vocals were bang on point all night, soft and meaningful when they needed to be, raunchy and powerful when the song demanded they be belted out. She has her own stuff out soon, if rumours are to be believed, but let’s hope she stays front and centre with Hollow Souls at the same time, and that whoever had the mad idea of a twenty-date tour to start things off with, has the same mad idea next year too - but not before they’ve released an album, or another six track EP.

Not asking too much am I ? ?

Kris Barras’ Hollow Souls Setlist

* Taken from Hollow Souls eponymous debut EP

1.     Borderline * 

2.     Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin cover)

3.     Bad Things *

4.     I Don’t Need No Doctor (Ray Charles cover)

5.     Tearing Me Apart (Kris Barras Band cover)

6.     Rock Me Baby (B.B. King cover)

7.     Shotgun *

8.     Propane (Kris Barras Band cover)

9.     Stormy Monday (T‐Bone Walker cover)

10.   Burn It to the Ground *

11.   I Need the Fire *

12.   Chasing Ghosts *

13.   My Parade (Kris Barras Band cover)

14.   Hail Mary (Kris Barras Band cover)

Encore

15.   Going Down (Freddie King cover)

Kris Barras’ Hollow Souls (tonight anyway) are

Phoebe Jane - vocals

Kris Barras – guitar / vocals

Josiah J. Manning - keys / guitar

Paddy Blight - bass

Chris Tilke - drums

UK TOUR 2025

October

Thurs 16 -  Bedford, Esquires


Fri 17 - Chesterfield, Real Time Live


Sat 18 - London, Camden Underworld


Sun 19 - Stowmarket, John Peel Centre


Wed 22 - Shoreham, Ropetackle


Thurs 23 - Cardiff, The Globe


Fri 24 - Leek, Foxlowe Arts


Sat 25 - Gloucester, Guildhall


Sun 26 - Norwich, Waterfront Studio


Wed 29 - Grimsby, Docks Academy

Thurs 30 - Huddersfield, Parish

Fri 31 - Birmingham, Castle & Falcon

November

Sat 1 - Stockton, Georgian Theatre


Sun 2 - Carlisle, Old Fire Station


Tue 4 - Glasgow, Oran Mor


Wed 5 - Edinburgh, La Belle Angele


Thurs 6 - York, Crescent


Fri 7 - Blackpool, Waterloo


Sat 8 - Southampton, Suburbia


Sun 9 - Tavistock, Wharf

Written in association with Noble PR