Tavistock Wharf
Sunday 9th November 2025

Review and pics, Rob and Danni Wilkins

The breadth of the rock genre was pretty well illustrated last weekend as, following on from Skindred at Arena Torquay and an evening of mosh pits and the “Newport Helicopter”, I headed up to the genteel, almost WI setting of Tavistock Wharf to spend an evening luxuriating in the blues with Hollow Souls.

A cloud of steam hung over the audience as they dried off from an autumn storm, which quickly got blown away as Troy Redfern took to the stage along with drummer/percussionist Paul Annis.

Quite how Troy gets such a range of tones from his impressive collection of instruments is beyond me, as each song seems to feature a completely distinctive auditorium-filling sound. The only backing is the stripped-down kit played by Annis, played standing up without kick drums, which focuses attention on Troy’s virtuosity and songwriting.

The set features a number of tracks from the new album “Retribution” (designed for this stripped-down duo format), including raucous openers “Shakin” and “Taken My Soul” and older tracks such as “John the Revelator” and “Waiting For Your Love”.

A memorable moment from the set came as Troy wound the volume down to zero and silenced the entire room as he played acoustically, before raising the sound levels back with wails of feedback and distortion. A superb set of musicianship and a great warm-up for what was to come.

It doesn’t take long to clear an amp and a minimalist drum kit from the stage, so there was barely time to trouble the ladies at the bar for a pint before the lights were dimming and Hollow Souls took to the stage. First, the rhythm section of drummer Chris Tilke and bassist Paddy Blight, then multi-instrumentalist Josiah J Manning, and finally the synergistic talents of Kris Barras and Phoebe Jane.

From the opening notes of “Borderline”, my first thought was that whilst Hollow Souls sound good on their EP, live, the songs go to another level as the true class of Phoebe Jane’s voice becomes clear. Just in case there wasn’t enough energy in the room, that was followed without pause by a breakneck version of Led Zep’s “Rock and Roll” that allowed each component of the band an opportunity to shine.

During a chat to the crowd, Barras said that when they decided to tour he was asked how they would make a headline set from an EP of just six songs and he replied that they would play each one three times and people would have to like it, but the set list chosen perfectly illustrates the class of the new material when it is allied to some older, more blues focussed Kris Barras Band material and some blues and rock classics covers.

A perfect example follows as the homegrown “Bad Things” is followed by “I Don’t Need No Doctor” (bizarrely covered by both John Mayer and W.A.S.P. – tonight’s version definitely closer to the latter, but following Kris’s comment about his ambition to reach Norwegian Death Metal on his musical journey, maybe the former version influenced too!) featuring a sumptuous call and response between vocal and guitar, and then the very early KBB song “Tearing Me Apart”. Similarly, “Rock Me Baby” segues into the homegrown “Shotgun” and then another KBB blues front track, “Propane”.

Then, for me, possibly the highlight track of the set in “Stormy Monday”. I love this track, and to say that Phoebe Jane’s vocal rivals that of Eva Cassidy with the same richness of tone and effortless power gives some idea of the sheer class of the delivery. Add in Josiah really letting rip behind his keyboard, and I may have forgotten to breathe at times.

The final three Hollow Souls home grown tracks “Burn It To The Ground”, “I Need The Fire” and “Chasing Ghosts” more than hold their own before Kris tells the audience to not sing along and spoil the start of the “electric version of the acoustic version of the electric version” of “My Parade” then they follow up with a rousing version of “Hail Mary” (as always allowing Kris to wring the back off his guitar one more time).

A genuine demand for an encore resulted in the band returning, along with Troy Redfern, for “Goin’ Down” and we were totally spoilt with the coming together of vocals, guitars, and keys in a way that left nothing on stage whatsoever.

I have followed KBB for a number of years, watching the evolution from blues to a heavier sound, and this reminder of just how good a blues guitarist Kris Barras is was welcome. I sincerely hope this becomes a balancing project and develops into the future, continuing to showcase Phoebe Jane’s sublime vocals and giving Kris and Josiah the space to play. For now, though, the EP is playing as I write and has accompanied me to work all week. Maybe next time it will be Kris’s Norwegian Death Metal project I am writing up, though!