Kris Barras - Southampton

Live review by; Jodie

Photos by; Rockin Out With...

I had the pleasure of seeing the ever fantastic Kris Barras play at The Brook in Southampton for his current ‘This Is My Parade’ Tour, and have been kindly asked by Rock Media UK to write a review for the event.

Well, I have to say I left the show with my mouth wide open with what I had just watched. Kris captivated the audience from the get go, and had the place bouncing throughout the entire set with not a single person being able to take their eyes off the performance.

The band kicked off the show with the classic “Hail Mary” which is always a crowd pleaser and a great way to draw everyone in immediately. The band continued to smash out tracks from their latest album “Death Valley Paradise” which is clearly why so many people are down the front punching the air banger after banger. The band even including a more rocked up version of fan favourite “Heart On Your Sleeve”, I have to say that personally I loved the song the way it was, and didn’t feel it needed revamping to fit in with the bands heavier style, however it still pleased the audience and I have to admit I eventually warmed to it too. They rounded off the set with “My Parade” which got the whole crowd chanting it together, followed by an encore of “Ignite (Light It Up)”, what a great way to send the crowd home, still buzzing from the electric high octane set. Personally, I would have liked to have seen a few more songs from “Light It Up” album, because I really did thoroughly enjoy that album, and Kris has such a fantastic back catalogue, it would’ve been good to see a variety; but that didn’t take away from the overall show at all. They even included a cover of “Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Led Zeppelin which showcased each individual band member's talent.

It is very clear that Kris Barras has really upped his game when it comes to his live shows, they have never not been brilliant but with this tour he really has taken things up to a whole new level I’m not sure many of us expected. Believe me, it is being very well received. There is a whole lot more audience participation with Kris even getting in the crowd for “Devil You Know” and “My Parade”. He splits the crowd to encourage sing-along moments and makes everyone feel comfortable with a generous bit of banter as well. Kris was holding notes and reaching highs I’ve not seen from him before, which just shows how much he has fine tuned his craft to be the best that he can be. It is very impressive to see and I’m looking forward to seeing what is next on the cards for Kris and the band.

Kris Barras is definitely an artist to keep your eye peeled for and I would wholeheartedly recommend going to see if he’s appearing near you any time soon, or is included in a line-up/festival you’re going to be attending. It’s honestly so worth it! Even if you just embrace the moment and enjoy the music, you won’t regret it. I have a feeling that the Kris Barras Band is only going to be growing in popularity and playing bigger shows in no time. So get up close and personal whilst you can.