Struts strut their glam-rock moves
British buzz band shows flash, charisma at sold-out concert
Luke Spiller has got the moves like Jagger.
And the Struts frontman certainly put them to good use on Nov. 2, dancing and prancing like ol’ Mick while leading his increasingly popular rock band in a soldout show at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
“I can tell tonight is going to be a special night,” he said early in the 13-song set. “This is our first proper headlining show in San Francisco.”
But it likely won’t be the last time we see this U.K.reared act’s name high up on a marquee in the Bay Area (or elsewhere). The Struts simply have too much potential, managing to draw comparisons to such Rock and Roll Hall of Fame acts as Queen, Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones with just one full-length album to its credit.
Only time will tell whether the band ends up reaching that potential. Yet, the quartet — Spiller, bassist Jed Elliott, guitarist Adam Slack and drummer Gethin Davies — appears to be on the right trajectory.
That wasn’t the case early on in the band’s career, however, as the Struts failed to generate anything close to a buzz in their native U.K. with the release of the 2014 debut “Everybody Wants.” So, the group packed up its bags and re- located to the U.S., where “Everybody Wants” continues to be embraced with open arms.
“Our music is now being played all over your fantastic country,” Spiller remarked to the enthusiastic Fillmore crowd, which sang with gusto to pretty much every song played. And the warm and fuzzy feelings are apparently mutual.
“We don’t belong to the U.K. anymore, ” Spiller said. “We belong to you.”
Opening the show with a strong “Put Your Hands,” the band went on to play every tune on “Everybody Wants,” coloring each with various shades of glam/garage rock. All of the offerings were better than mediocre, with probably half (or so) being quite good and one being downright excep- tional.
The latter, of course, is “Kiss This,” which might be the best straight-ahead rock single of the last five years. It’s a pure adrenaline shot that somehow manages to sound familiar, like something off an old Aerosmith album, and excitingly new at the same time.
“Raise your hand if you want to ‘Kiss This,’” says Spiller, introducing the song, then quickly turning around and wiggling his backside toward the crowd.
If the band can come up with more “Kiss This”-level tunes over the next few years, then the Struts might just be playing stadiums before it’s all said and done. But that’s a tall order.
Watching the group work on such a relatively bare-bones stage, with only a few flashing lights shooting out into the audience, it was hard to stay in the moment and not imagine what we might see on future tours. This group — a clear throwback to a more dangerous era of rock, when KISS, Van Halen and the likes ruled the world — would definitely benefit from a full arsenal of fireworks, laser lights and other bells and whistles.
The group closed the roughly one-hour main set on a high note with “Only Just a Call Away,” before returning for an acoustic take on “She Makes Me Feel” and a jammed-out “Where Did She Go.”