For the second time this year, I boarded the 525 to Glasgow, chaperoned once more by Boy Child and Mr A. Again, the weather gods were smiling on us, and it was a beautiful spring evening as we headed across town.

Our destination for the evening was St Luke’s and the Winged Ox, a small venue in a former church situated behind Barrowlands. It had been almost years since my last visit to this very pretty venue.

Who were we off to see? The Kris Barras Band.

Ok, I’ll confess I was also excited to see support act Florence Black.

Unlike our experience form a couple of weeks ago, there was only a small, scattered queue outside St Luke’s, and we easily secured a rail spot for the evening. Happy days!

First band on stage were a duo called Velvetbomb. I’m going to adopt my “Thumper Philosophy” here. (If ya can’t say nuffin’ nice, ya shouldn’t say nuffin’ at all.) Although their drummer did add a comedy element when he fell backwards off his stool towards the end of their mercifully short set.

Moving swiftly on…

With a little more space cleared on the cluttered, cramped stage Florence Black stepped out to a very warm reception from the crowd. The trio from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales opened their set with Zulu. This was swiftly followed by The Deep End and Bird On A Chain. These boys (Tristan Thomas on vocals and guitar, Jordan Evans on bass and backing vocals and Perry Davies on drums and backing vocals) didn’t disappoint with their eight-song set. One high point of their performance was Smoke.

(4) Smoke – Florence Black @ St Luke’s Glasgow 10/03/22 – YouTube

This was followed by a cover of Budgie’s Breadfan before the boys rounded off their set with their single Sun And Moon. Loved it!

Roll on October when they’ve promised to return to Glasgow for a headline show.

Not long after nine, the lights dimmed, the door at the back of the stage opened and The Kris Barras Band slipped out on stage to open their fifteen-song set with the awesome Hail Mary. Love this one! What a way to start a show!

(4) Hail Mary – Kris Barras Band @ St Luke’s Glasgow 18/03/22 show opener – YouTube

This was followed by recent single from the current record Death Valley Paradise, Dead Horses, and Rock N Roll Running Through My Veins. Yes, it was… and my ears. These guys were loud!

I love seeing bands having fun on stage and it looked as though these boys were having a blast right from the get-go. Bassist Kelpie McKenzie has to be one of the most animated bassists in the business!

Ignite (Light It Up) is always a fan favourite and tonight was no exception. The Glasgow crowd, a little more mature than I’d anticipated, sang passionately all night. (I have to mention “Jack and Victor” who were up on the balcony at this point. Anorak and bunnet on, they sat glued to the show all night, but I didn’t notice any singing. What would Isa say?)

Sporting a cut away Skindred tee, Kris charmed the audience with his easy banter and the stories behind the songs all night, adding to the intimacy of the show.

A new addition to the set is an acoustic interlude. Kris and Josiah started with Heart On Your Sleeve, which lends itself beautifully to a more acoustic arrangement. Josiah was pulling triple duty here (watch his feet in the video below) as he played the stomp pedal with his right foot and bass pedals with his left. Skilful stuff!

(4) Heart on Your Sleeve – The Kris Barras Band @ St Luke’s Glasgow 18/03/22 – YouTube

Their second acoustic number may have been the high point of the entire show for me. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man was their song of choice, and it was awesome! Ok, I may be slightly biased here as I absolutely adore that song.

How to follow that? With the beautiful soulful blues of Watching Over Me, the first song Kris wrote. It’s a tribute to his late father and it was certainly the most emotional moment of the night. Yes. Kris, your dad would’ve been beyond proud to be watching this show.

Current single My Parade rounded off the main set a couple of songs later. The crowd were loving this one and weren’t for letting these guys go home just yet.

A few moments after leaving the stage, the boys returned for one more song, Lovers Or Losers. Awesome!

There were no losers… that show was definitely a winner!

Hurry back!