The Struts

London Koko

Derby glam stompers’ flamboyant return to Blighty. “It’s so good to see the whites of your eyes,” cries Struts frontman Luke Spiller, while referring, typically immodestly, to the band’s long absences from these isles supporting the likes of Foo Fighters, the Rolling Stones and Guns N’ Roses in US arenas. However modest this venue may be, however long it has taken them to get us cynical Brits to embrace their variety of party-starting, singalong glam rock, you feel it’s just been a matter of time.

It seems somehow unnatural for us to withhold our attention from a man that looks like the result of a genetic experiment with the DNA of Freddie Mercury, Noel Fielding and Esther Rantzen. More importantly, Spiller makes the most of his natural gifts, conducting more audience participation sessions than Timmy Mallett at a kids’ birthday bash, but at the same time displaying a magnificent set of rock pipes on songs such as These Times Are Changing and Kiss This. He offers sweat-generating energy levels that see him resemble a drowned otter in his gold lamé jacket by the third song, and enough great singalongs to get even the bar staff joining in en masse.

New tracks such as Fire (Part 1) and Prima Donna Like Me are so immediate, he shouts “Whaddya think?” after the first chorus of the latter number.

They won’t bore us. They will get to the chorus.

And sooner or later, you will join in.