Last Wednesday evening saw a change in the order of things ….. I was the one chaperoning Mr A to a show. (Don’t deny it – this one was your call) So, in a change to the norm, I was chauffeur driven to Glasgow then we took a short subway ride before enjoying a short, if damp, walk to the venue for the evening.

Literally The Venue at Oran Mor in the city’s West End.

(credits to the owner via Google)

To give you a brief history lesson- Oran Mor is the former Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church. It was completed in 1876 and served as a parish church until it amalgamated with another parish in 1978. Having closed its doors on it final sermon, the building was converted into a restaurant and music venue and hey presto Oran Mor was born. The Venue is to be found in the former church’s basement.

So, who were we there to see? The Kris Barras Band.

There was only one support act lined up for the evening – Elles Bailey. Hailing from Bristol, Elles is a singer/songwriter with her musical heart soaked in the roots of country/blues/Americana music. In front of a growing crowd, she delivered a brilliant eight song set. Drawing heavily on the track listing of her current album Road I Call Home, Elles swiftly captivated the Scottish crowd. She struck the perfect balance between singing and interacting with the audience in front of her. Elles’s delivery is really quite engaging and easily drew the Scottish audience to her. Some of her songs tell stories and Medicine Man was one such song- definitely the highlight song of her set for me personally. This song was dedicated to her former manager whom she likened to your old style travelling medicine man (charlatan). By the time she reached her final number The Venue was packed and she had every one of them (Mr A included) in the palm of her hand as she closed with The Road I Call Home.

Great set and I could be tempted to check out her headline show on 20 March 2020 in King Tuts. Tickets are sure to sell fast.

With the PA tape playing John The Revelator from the Sons of Anarchy soundtrack, The Kris Barras Band took to the stage. (Love that song- kind of wish they’d actually played it) Appropriate choice perhaps….

Kris Barras kicked things off with Ignite (Light It Up) from his recently released Light It Up album getting the evening off to an explosive start. Right from the get go these guys had the crowd engaged and kept the energy levels high despite Kris confessing he was feeling under the weather. (Man flu I suspect) His performance didn’t suffer as a result.

Mid-set Kris slowed things down a little with sultry blues number Rain. This track perhaps showed a softer side to the former MMA star and for me was one of the highlight moments of the evening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmanjMdE350

Kris alluded further to his MMA cage fighting past a few songs later as he sang Broken Teeth.

Having seen these guys support Black Stone Cherry a few months back one thing that struck me then and again here was the knack Kris has of knowing when to stop, of knowing when its enough and to turn the tap off on the solos. There are a few far bigger names (I’ll not mention any for fear of offending anyone) who could learn a trick or two from this young man.

I’ve never seen any of footage of his MMA days but Kris Barras is a master at his trade on stage and deserves to be playing to much bigger rooms than The Venue.

Watching Over Me followed Broken Teeth and was perhaps the most poignant moment of the evening as Kris revealed it was the first song he’d written and that it was dedicated to his biggest fan, his late father.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTJrqR4NPjo

I’m sure he’s proudly watching over you, Kris.

The main set was rounded out with my personal favourite (I was beginning to worry that he wasn’t going to play it) – Hail Mary. Love love love that song! – as did several hundred other Scottish fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0GJQ5AL-CQ

By now it was apparent that Kris wasn’t firing on all cylinders ( you could hear it in his voice) but it didn’t stop him from stepping back up for a two song encore. Proceedings ended with Going Down, a Freddie King cover, and with the vocals delivered by the two talented young ladies who had backed Kris all evening.

All in all, the Kris Barras Band lit up The Venue with an awesome night of music.

Hurry back!