Kris Barras Band

There’s a big year ahead for rock giants, ‘Kris Barras Band,’ as they set themselves for a mammoth, 25+ date, UK tour, including, on 13 February, the night before Valentines, a show at the Riverside Newcastle. Beginning in Tavistock, on 21 January, the quartet, consisting of Barras (vocals/guitar), Josiah Manning (rhythm guitar/vocals), Billy Hamnmett (drums), Kelpie Mackenzie (bass guitar), will be travelling around England, and Scotland, taking in places like Barnsley and Bristol, Wolverhampton and Glasgow, Nottingham and Norwich, before finishing, in London, on 25 February. It’ll be a long run of shows, plenty of travelling, and plenty of noise from a band that only came to fruition in the mid-2010s, with a self-titled EP, followed by, in 2016, the debut album, ‘Lucky 13,’ for lead vocalist Kris however, it’s been a dream that has been festering since childhood. Even if there was a decade-long spell in the then underground world, formative years, of the MMA/Cage Fighting world, between 2004 and 2014. “When I started out, my music style was rooted in Blues, Southern Rock music,” began Kris. “But, with each of the albums we’ve released, the sound and style, it’s certainly got heavier, and heavier, just like the music in which I listen to. “It’s nice to be able to branch out though, and, with the rock style, you can spread your wings quite a bit, and do so much more with it. “The fighting though, it (MMA/ Cage) was still in its early days, and was very much an underground sport back then. “I’d also done some martial arts when I was younger, throughout my childhood and teenage years before going on to being offered lots of opportunities, so I just rolled with it; I was fighting in places like Las Vegas, and Thailand, whilst setting up a gym 13

as well. “I was still doing some music though, and, having stopped competing after the fight in Thailand, in August 2014, following a decade in the sport, injuries were taking their toll. “So I just stopped fighting, and started writing songs properly, with the aim of performing a few gigs, maybe to a hundred or so people.” How things change, and quickly. For Kris, and the band, performing in front a few hundred fans, at local pubs and clubs, soon snowballed into bigger venues, support slots, and touring both with big names, and in their own right. A further three albums have been added to the back catalogue since that 2016 debut, and, although like the rest of the world, were pushed back before global indifferences, the KBB name remained strong and true. Coming out of the darkness (they’ve supported the band of the same name, The Darkness, at Shepherd Bush Empire, among others), coincided with the release of their latest offering, adding Death Valley Paradise to that of ‘The Divine & Dirty’ (2018) and ‘Light It Up’ (2019). “We’ve been quite lucky really, especially when coming out of covid, and the lockdowns,” admitted Kris. “We were on one of the first tours (with Black Stone Cherry, in late 2021, including the Royal Albert Hall), so we do class ourselves as being fortunate, in a way. “The momentum prior though, it just stopped us in our tracks, but it also afforded myself time to just sit down and write (30+) songs; I wouldn’t have had the time otherwise. “We’ve also been really fortunate to have performed some really greats shows though (there’s been Beth Hart, Joanne Shaw Taylor, GUN, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, its endless). “The Thunder gig (at Wembley Arena), they were the first, proper band in which I saw live, so that, for me, was something special; also, performing at Download Festival, that was something else and, although I don’t have a ‘bucket list,’ I just like to take things as they come really.” As for the album, and said tour in the New Year, more than twenty dates, in a matter of months, at the start of the year; the two coincide with each other, even though the album itself, was released back in March of this year, the band letting things move through the motions. “That album, Death Valley Paradise, it was definitely one

of the smoothest we’ve done, in terms of putting it together,” added Kris. “We went away, in one, solid block, to Worcester, with the sole job of just doing the album, bouncing ideas off each other, talking about it on an evening, and it was just great, good to be able to have just that kind of focus. “Whilst the reception for it, that has been really good, and it’s been great performing, and seeing people singing along with it. “Next year’s tour, that was booked pretty quickly after the main tour for the album really, but with this new one, we decided to do more regional venues, hence the number of places (performing at). “There’s a few places, yes, we’ve been there before, but there are also some places which are relatively new to us. “Having Planet Rock’s Winters End (5 February, Trecco Bay) on there, as a headline act, that’s a cool thing for me, and we’re really looking forward to it. “I just love playing though, playing anywhere, and writing songs but there’s no firm plans for later in the year, yet, although it would be good to get back out to Europe again though, as well headlining some festivals. “I’m just happy doing what I’m doing, and being part of what is a great, rock world.” Keep up-to-date with all things Kris Barras via their socials on Facebook https://www. facebook.com/krisbarrasband and Twitter https://twitter.com/ KrisBarrasBand and their website at https://www.krisbarrasband. com/ Image credits - John McMurtrie

ROMESH RANGANATHAN COMES TO THE CITY HALL FRIDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2019 WITH A BRAND NEW SHOW TICKETS ON SALE 10AM FRIDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2018

Romesh Ranganathan is back with a brand-new show, The Cynic’s Mixtape, and it’s his most brutally honest show yet.

Fresh from The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, A League Of Their Own and Judge Romesh, he’s putting showbiz aside to deliver a carefully-curated selection of all the things he has found unacceptable since his last tour, including why trying to save the environment is a scam, why none of us are truly free, and his suspicion that his wife is using gluten intolerance to avoid sleeping with him.

Romesh’s cynicism has become his trademark, but since being nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2013 Edinburgh Comedy Awards this deadpan humour has become one of Britain’s most respected and popular comics. Now, though, it’s time for the Asian Provocateur to return to his stand-up roots for a while – there’s things he needs to point out, discuss and have a good moan about. Care to join him?

Show drops 2019, don’t miss it.

Tickets for Romesh Ranganathan are on sale Fri 28 Sep from 10am and are £26.50. Tickets can be purchased online at www. theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (Calls cost 7p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge)