TRAVIS LIVE!! | RITZ MUSIC VENUE
Coverage by Angela Gallagher
My first concert of 2025 was on January 21st at The Ritz in Raleigh to see TRAVIS on their RAZE THE BAR tour. Being an avid concert goer, I have seen most everything as far as shows go and this one added to the list of ‘Firsts’. This was my first time seeing Travis! But it was also my first time seeing an opener get scratched and the show time for the headliner moved up before a snow storm hits! Even with the time change and freezing temps, the crowd rolled in ready for the show.
The lights stayed down until the band walked out and as soon as the stage lights went up, the band was full on concert mode. They went directly into their opening song, ‘Bus’. The vocals of lead singer Fran Healy were perfect and the entire band had this totally mellow energy. The first thing I usually notice is stage presence and theirs was good & interactive with the crowd. Not necessarily jumping all over the stage but just a really good connection with the music. After the first song ended, they thanked everyone for making it to the show with the impending snow (which in fact had already started) and quickly got to the rest of the music to give everyone the show they deserved. The next few songs were ‘Driftwood’ and ‘Love Will Come Through’ (which has become one that I have been playing the past few days…Iove finding new songs for my playlist!).
TRAVIS has a very cohesive Brit-Pop sound that can be really refreshing in between my usual days of blasting rock/metal & early 90’s grunge. I loved seeing the crowd sing along & realizing they have all been fans of the band for years…some even since 1990 when TRAVIS started. The feeling the crowd has towards their music was obvious and totally relatable. Such a great show!
