Kris Barras Band
Rock City has filled up nicely by the time Kris and co. take the stage. They’ve had the chance to support some class acts in the past few years (Buckcherry, South of Salem), but surely it doesn’t come much bigger than opening for Smith/Kotzen! Kris has come a long way since his days bashing heads in his previous career as a mixed martial arts fighter, and has since swapped hard punches for hard rock.
Tonight’s setlist comes predominantly from the 2022 album ‘Death Valley Paradise’, and Kris commands Rock City with calm confidence right from the opening bars of ‘Who Needs Enemies’. The sound is solid and groovy – and although Kris is often happy to take the metaphorical spotlight in centre stage, he is flanked by a brilliant rhythm section in Billy Hammett on drums and Frazer Kerslake on bass. Josiah J. Manning’s guitar parts danced around Kris’s and complemented the sound perfectly, without overpowering it.
Barras has a soft spot for Nottingham Rock city – last time he was here he shared an intimate and emotional tale about the passing of his father, before toasting with champagne at the good news that the most recent album – 2024’s ‘Halo Effect’ had just achieved Top 5 in the UK Official Charts. This album however, is not represented in tonight’s show, with the band opting for their earlier material. ‘Devil You Know’ is a standout track, but arguably the best and most catchy number is ‘Hail Mary’ – a real crowd singalong. They exit with a bang with ‘My Parade’ – a stomping, fist pumping tour de force.
A new album complete with supporting tour is slated for later in the year, so watch this space!
Setlist:
- Who Needs Enemies
- Dead Horses
- These Voices
- All Falls Down
- Devil You Know
- Monsters We Made
- Hail Mary
- My Parade
Smith/Kotzen
Glasses have been recharged during the break, and the atmosphere is one of high anticipation. There’s an awful lot of Maiden t-shirts evident, as many (myself included) will have become aware of S/K via Adrian Smith, and the rabid Iron Maiden fan brigade was always going to come out in force for this one. Richie Kotzen has a fine CV too, having fronted The Winery Dogs for the last 15 years, as well as being a member of Poison and Mr Big. He’s collaborated with the likes of Glenn Hughes, and his solo project opened for The Rolling Stones ‘Bigger Bang’ Tour. In other words, the chap has a fine pedigree!
S/K is the product of a chance backyard jam session when Adrian and Richie were neighbours in Los Angeles. They have released two albums, 2021’s ‘Scars’, and last year’s ‘Black Light/White Noise’, with each represented equally on tonight’s setlist.
They take the stage to predictably rapturous applause, and kick off with three from the new record, ‘Life Unchained’, ‘Black Light’ and ‘Wraith’. The sound quality is superb, with all the subtleties of Adrian Smith’s gorgeous bluesy guitar tone easily perceptible, interlaced with Kotzen’s more gritty rhythm work. Watching the two trade off sublime intertwining guitar licks between each other is like watching a conversation between two geniuses…. this is bluesy rock at its finest.
The duo have Rock City Eating from the palms of their hands from minute one, and they’re making it look effortless. I get the feeling Adrian relishes the opportunity to play smaller venues with a more light-hearted atmosphere, after conquering every stadium and biggest festival crowds on the planet with his ‘day job’. Vocals-wise he does a good job too. It’s not ‘lead guitarist trying to do vocals’ syndrome, as is sometimes the case with side projects – Smith is a competent singer, but he doesn’t quite have the vocal class of Richie Kotzen, On the new album, Richie Kotzen does most of the heavy lifting, by not only recording his guitar and vocal parts, but also a fair chunk of bass and drums.
In the live setting, the band is fleshed out by none other than his wife Julia Lage on bass and Bruno Valverde on drums. Julia struts up and down the length of the stage confidently for most of the gig, all the while with a massive smile on her face. I’d seen her in her other band Vixen last year, and she was exactly the same – great stage presence and thundering bass tone. Bruno holds things together nicely with just the right amount of flair and pazazz.
But it’s the undeniable chemistry between the main duo that holds the audience’s attention the most. They alternated moments of blistering rock with quieter more introspective stretches, allowing the melodic moments to breathe, before surging back to the big riffs.
If you close your eyes and imagine Dickinson singing – ‘Blindsided’ could have been a Maiden song, it has the guitar effects and tone we’ve all grown to know and love. But it’s an isolated moment – this is far from a watered down version of Iron Maiden. ‘Scars’ and ‘Running’ towards the end of the set are even more highlights.
For the encore, we have a couple of covers – but only in the sense that they’re not songs written by S/K together – namely Richie Kotzen’s ‘You Can’t Save Me’, and Iron Maiden’s ‘Wasted Years’.
Adrian sings the first 2 lines of the latter, and looks as though he’s having some sort of aneurysm. “You sing it, my voice is f*cked!!!”, he instructs the crowd, as his band mates are practically falling about laughing. He’s certainly no Bruce Dickinson, and he knows he didn’t really have a chance at nailing those vocals. But it’s a great example of the relaxed light-heartedness of the gig in general. Adrian Smith has absolutely nothing to prove.
Tonight we were treated to a fantastic gig – two legends firing on all cylinders — exactly what Nottingham came to hear. Come back soon!
Setlist:
- Life Unchained
- Black Light
- Wraith
- Glory Road
- Hate and Love
- Blindsided
- Taking My Chances
- Darkside
- Outlaw
- Got a Hold on Me
- White Noise
- Scars
- Running
- Solar Fire
Encore:
- You Can’t Save Me (Richie Kotzen song)
- Wasted Years (Iron Maiden cover)
Review and photos by Rob Lindesay @rock.the.lens
