If you didn’t leave the venue brutally exhausted, with a hoarse voice, an aching body and ringing ears, you didn’t do your Struts show properly. The British band delivers an energetic set that feeds off of abundant audience participation. This is not a seated sedate experience, but more of a raucous house party with some crazed friends.
The entire band throws off a slick old school glam rocker vibe, and they all had their shining moments, but The Struts revolve around their high-octane singer. Luke Spiller is the uber-talented front man for the quartet. His voice is special – powerful, dynamic and compelling. He’s a constantly active entertainer, who never stops moving, nor interacting with the fans.
To be honest, I came into the show as a casual fan of The Struts. I thought their first album Everybody Wants was a killer debut effort, but the next two releases failed to grab my attention. Coming into the show at The Beacham, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I left thoroughly impressed.
The quartet didn’t waste any time, hitting the stage with an explosive version of “Dirty Sexy Money,” which got the crowd thoroughly engaged immediately. Singing. Dancing. Clapping. It became a constant for the next ninety minutes. As the band deftly wound their way through the set, it became clear to me that every song they played took on a life of its own when they poured out the music live. They have plenty of stellar tracks, but every song sounded great live. Every song!
Highlights included a few songs I expected. “Body Talks” and “Kiss This” were borderline incendiary and had the crowd in a crazed state. I was pleasantly surprised to see them add “Ol Switcheroo” to the setlist – the first time they’ve pulled it out this tour. The debut track from their forthcoming album, “Pretty Vicious” was a sweet new song with a hard edge.
The two song encore was perfection. Spiller came out for a duet with guitarist Adam Slack for a tender acoustic version of “Low Key in Love,” which turned into a full-throated singalong. The Struts followed that track with a raucous full band version of “Could’ve Been Me,” sending their fans happily out onto the Orlando streets.
Mac Saturn, a six-piece from Detroit opened the show with a nice set of rock ‘n roll. Singer Carson Macc and guitarist Mike Moody were pretty damn impressive. A band to keep an eye on…
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Rock On!
Bob C
The Struts setlist:
Dirty Sexy Money
Body Talks
Fallin’ With Me
Too Good at Raising Hell
Kiss This
Primadonna Like Me
All Dressed Up (With Nowhere to Go)
The Ol’ Switcheroo
Mary Go Round
In Love With a Camera / Cool / Matter of Time / Wild Child / Can’t Sleep / Somebody New
Royals (Lorde)
Pretty Vicious
I Do It So Well
Where Did She Go
Put Your Money on Me
Low Key in Love
Could Have Been Me
