THE STRUTS – Stylus, Leeds (Concert Review)

The Struts

A thousand sweaty souls crowbarred themselves into the Stylus club located in the heart of the Leeds University campus to witness The Struts play the first – and sold-out – show of their UK tour.

For those aforementioned souls amassed on February 16, it was a show that will live long in the memory and many who were there will no doubt be searching out tickets for future dates.

The Support

The support came courtesy of Kelsey Karter, the Kiwi pop-rocker who recently courted controversy for having a tattoo of Harry Styles on her face which she soon admitted was fake.

She did a great job of warming the crowd up with her style of music perfectly suited to the situation.

The Show

From the moment The Struts leaped on stage until the moment they left it, the crowd was in raptures. This was due in no small part to the outstanding performance of lead singer Luke Spiller.

An outrageous composition of 80% Mercury and 20% Jagger, he had the crowd in the palm of his hand for 100 minutes. A line from opening number “Primadonna Like Me” goes “don’t you know it’s all about me tonight”. Yes, Luke, we did know and you were amazing.

The energy expended was something to behold, matched only by the crowd who joined in with every song and made it such an inclusive night.

To have such a great night it helps if you have some decent songs, and boy, do they have some decent songs. Well, not decent, but brilliant. They have 2 albums and a couple of EPs to draw on which are fortunately chock-a-block with melodic, singalong anthems.

The pace never abated all night apart from when they did a cover of Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” and replicated the Courtney Cox moment when they got someone out of the crowd to dance with them on stage. It was a breather we all needed.

Sandwiching this interlude, the party was swinging with tracks such as “Fire (Part 1)” “Put Your Money on Me” and Spiller was often found behind his white piano, from where he moved effortlessly to stage front, a la Freddie. Check out the full setlist below.

But enough of the best current frontman around at the moment, special mention must be made of the other members of The Struts. Guitarist Addo Slack, bassist Jed Elliott, and drummer Gethin Davies combined superbly to produce the massive, booming Struts sound. Slack had all the chops, whether heavy or more tender and Elliott and Davies provided one helluva rhythm section with power and precision and were clearly loving every minute. I know I was.

These three also had their own instrumental section while Spiller was offstage, this time most likely spent in an oxygen tent or plugged into the national grid. It was an enjoyable musical interlude too.

This gig was an absolute treat and an honor to attend, knowing that they won’t be doing these sized venues for much longer. I’m expecting world domination, they deserve it.

The Setlist