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The Niki Barr Band
11/12/07
Rams Head Live
Baltimore, Maryland

On Monday, November 12, 2007, The Cult played Rams Head Live in Baltimore and it was an even that was sponsored by Jagermeister, and as part of the Jager themed night, the show was opened by a Jager sponsored/supported local act, and the lucky act for this tour was none other than The Niki Barr Band!

Front woman Niki Barr is a charismatic singer/songwriter and don’t let her small demeanor fool you...she has a shy presence offstage and a very girl next door quality to her, but onstage, Niki Barr is a powerful singer that almost glows while she’s exuding all of her energy via her music while on stage, and whether she’s strumming her guitar or singing, she’s pouring her heart into her performance and you really can’t fake that!

The bands set this particular night was very short...there was 4 or 5 songs total played, and this particular set was a more balls out, straight up rock n roll set than your average Niki Barr set and they even played a brand new song that was probably the heaviest thing I’ve ever heard them do and the song itself was both heavy, music wise and vibe wise!

It’s easy to just focus on Niki while she’s onstage, but her backing band, which is comprised of Island Styles (guitar), Scott Ensign (Bass) andBJ Kerwin (Drums) are equally as impressive onstage...Scott’s presence on stage is larger than life and he adds alot to the bands show, both physically and musically because he’s constantly bouncing all over that stage and he’s really the type of guy that belongs on a larger stage!  I can’t ignore the guitar playing of Island Styles either..he fills in the gaps of Niki’s rhythm playing with added strength and he’s got an interesting style that’s not quite pop, but just flexible enough that he can probably fit in with any form of music and he adds alot to the music as well!

The bands first single, “Wasted Time”, which is a song co-written with songwriter phenom, Butch Walker, is as catchy as anything on rock radio today, and I remember the first time I heard that song, I thought, wow, that song is a hit...this was the song that seemed to get the crowd going the most, and I give the Niki Barr band credit..this was an opening slot for The Cult, and the crowd was there to see The Cult, so any opening band on that stage had to deal with that, and the Niki Barr band played a short but power-pop filled set that let the crowd know exactly what the band is all about!  When The Cult came on later that night, lead singer Ian Astbury commented that the Niki Barr band was the best local opening band they had on this entire tour, and that was a major compliment coming from a band like The Cult who’s been around forever and seen everything!

To check out music and show dates for the Niki Barr Band, go to:  www.myspace.com/nikibarr

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