The Wiltern, one of a handful of my favorite venues in Los Angeles, California, was the place to be on July 2, 2019 to see The Struts. Trotting their way around the globe, bringing their glam-inspired rock ‘n’ roll show to adoring audiences these last few years, are band members Luke Spiller on lead vocals and crowd ignition, guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliott, and drummer Gethin Davies. The Struts are touring behind their most recent album, Young & Dangerous.
I’ve seen The Struts twice before, but both times — May 2018 at the Roxy and November 2019 with my son at the House of Blues Anaheim — were when I was taking a break from writing about concerts here. The band is as aesthetically pleasing as they are sonically satisfying, with nearly as much thought going into their wardrobe of bespoke outfits and glitter highlighted makeup, as into music tone and song production. Lead singer Luke Spiller is a dazzling front man who beguiles fans within moments of stepping on stage. He exudes not only self-confidence, but a well-mannered and positive energy that draws the viewer in close. The other band members remain relatively quiet in words as Luke commands his court, but their musical contributions are equally as infectious as Luke’s voice. There is no denying the appeal of Adam’s guitar sound and soloing choices, sometimes entering delectable Brian May territory and others getting raunchy like Keith Richards. Jed’s bass lines are perfectly suited for each song and on occasion his output momentarily lights up the tune, as witnessed during the lead in to their song, “Body Talks.” Drums are handled with the utmost care by Gethin, which seems like a strange thing to say about a drummer, but he knows when to play out hard and when to let the song flow on without him. This makes him absolutely brilliant in my book. Any of these players might be considered great on their own, but together they are truly a powerhouse of talent.
Kelsy Karter and The Boys With Long Hair
It feels strange to go to a concert on a Tuesday night. Everybody seems to be coming from somewhere else, requiring a transition from day-to-day life to something much more extraordinary. In L.A., people were still streaming into the theatre as the opener was playing. I was one of them. I missed most of the opening act, “Kelsy Karter,” but could tell from the two numbers that I heard that the singer operates with confidence, supermodel style, a poetic streak, and a pinch of rock attitude. I walked in as she and the band were covering Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You.” On the production front, she appears to be mostly releasing singles, apart from an EP in 2015, Kiss the Boys. The biggest splash she has made so far has been with her song, “Harry,” an ode to musician Harry Styles. She and her band, The Boys With Long Hair, operate locally, so perhaps I will run across her show another time.
The Glorious Sons
The second band of the night has been rocking our neighbors to the North for a few years and they are currently working on conquering the U.S. as the tour openers for The Struts for the month of July. If you want to hear some straightforward rock from the heart that reminds you of the heyday of bands like Bon Jovi or Guns ‘n’ Roses then check out The Glorious Sons. This rock outfit feels so familiar as they play the music style of my youth (this band should be huge in Wisconsin, where hard rock is always in fashion). The band members are Brett Emmons, belting out robust lead vocals, Jay Emmons and Chris Koster playing bold and dirty on guitars, Chris Huot perfectly paving the road on bass, and Adam Paquette busting solid beats on the drum kit. Their most recent album, Young Beauties and Fools, was released in September 2018.
It’s hard for an opening band to win over a mid-week crowd in L.A., but The Glorious Sons accomplished it. They certainly had some of their own true fans in the audience that evening, as evidenced by the enthusiasm in one section of the pit right from the beginning. It took a few songs to get everybody else up to speed. It was clear lead singer Brett Emmons could sense the quietness in the crowd, as he began to talk to them and boost them up between numbers. The band delivered the musical goods with strong rocking songs and tight musicianship. Brent encouraged the crowd to sing at the end of their song “Mama” from their album The Union. About half of the audience was down with that, but the remainder made a slightly unsure, messy attempt, which he pronounced as “a valiant effort.” However, now the audience was hooked in and soon enough the whole main floor was heaving with people jumping up and down and pumping their fists.
The Glorious Sons began their set with their most recently released single, “Panic Attack.” Their song “Sawed Off Shotgun” seemed to get the biggest response out of the audience so I’m sharing that video below. Their set list was:
- “Panic Attack”
- “White Noise”
- “Godless, Graceless, and Young”
- “My Poor Heart”
- “Mama”
- “Hide My Love”
- “Josie”
- “Sawed Off Shotgun”
- “Kill the Lights”
Three cheers to whoever put this bill together. The two opening acts were different enough from each other, yet strong enough in their own styles to be on stage back-to-back and not seem as if they were weaker versions of the headliner. They were also under the same musical umbrella of rock, so that audience members mainly there to see The Struts could appreciate and enjoy the opening bands too.
The Struts
After watching The Glorious Sons from the back of the loge and noting that a bunch of seats were still open at the front of the loge by the end of their set, I decided to move closer for The Struts during the break between acts. I think this is endemic to our times with people buying tickets and then trying to resell them online for ridiculous profits. Then they can’t do it and the seats go empty. Or perhaps the seats at the front of the loge were priced incorrectly, because plenty of the more affordable seats in the balcony area were full. Either way, my gain.
The first song The Struts performed is one of my son’s favorites, the self-important, overtly confident “Primadonna Like Me” from Young & Dangerous. My son has more swagger than your average 13-year-old. Already several of the audience members in the loge were standing up and bouncing up and down to the music. I was surprised when I could feel my seat, now near the front and in the center of the loge, bouncing in the same rhythm! That was scary for a moment, as if the whole thing could collapse at any time. Then I decided that there must be some flexibility built into the structure for earthquakes and put it out of my mind. I don’t know if that is true or not, but thinking that allowed me to not panic about the shaking for the rest of the night.
The album Young & Dangerous contains two versions of the song “Body Talks,” the second version performed as a duet with Kesha. While the band-only version is certainly gratifying, the song has more substance when performed as a duet. I love the feisty, flirty interplay between the male and female voices. I wish The Struts would have gotten Kelsy Karter on board to perform this one with Luke on stage. Besides adding extra oomph to the song, it would have been a sweet opportunity for Kelsy to showcase her style to all The Struts fans that arrived late. Still, it was good to hear this song live if only to hear Jed’s sexy bass line.
I love the song “Kiss This” from Everybody Wants, which was the third song they played that night. Thematically my brain pairs this song up with “I Will Survive,” except the narrator announces his strength so much earlier in the situation and is the one walking out of the relationship instead of the one being left behind. It’s an excellent rocker that heightened the energy in The Wiltern.
“I did all I could,
from “Kiss This” by The Struts
So kiss this one more time ’cause I’m gone for good
You misunderstood
So kiss this one last time and I’m gone for good…”
Next up, easily one of the most catchy and pop-influenced tunes on the recent album, was “In Love With the Camera.” When I first heard this song I liked to think that Luke was singing about female photographers, but when listening more closely to the verses, I could hear that the song was about the model. Pairing songs together again in my head, this one makes me feel like we’ve progressed since “Girls on Film.” This time the woman being photographed is the one in charge, calling the shots: “See how she plays up to the lens, she pretends it’s her only friend.” I love this fresh take on the subject from The Struts.
“One Night Only” saw Luke head to the piano and I snapped a bunch of photos of him there. I ended up using one photo as the thumbnail for a couple videos I recorded during the encore (see end of post). I probably didn’t spend enough time enjoying this song like I should have because I was snapping photos. This is one of my favorite tunes of theirs, it is a perfect song. I love the lyrics, the vocals, and Adam’s guitar solo is too delicious for words! I’m a sucker for string bending.
In the same month that I had gone to see The Struts for the first time, I sold my house (I had already moved to a rented place). Upon seeing the profits drop into my bank account, the song I was singing was “Dirty Sexy Money.” Whenever I hear that song now it recaptures that feeling of financial abundance, so of course I was jazzed up to hear it in concert. I might not actually be a “High Street Honey” (more like a Target Mommy), but it still feels good to know I have those dirty, sexy dollars saved and invested, at least until I find a new place worth buying.
One of my favorites songs from the new album is “Tatler Magazine.” I was a little disappointed to not hear it live last time around, but I got my wish at The Wiltern. This song starts off simply and builds throughout, like a bottle of champagne shaken until the top is removed and the pressure is released in a mighty explosion of bubbles. The tale begins with your modern day every man, working for a living, but daydreaming colossally. He is inspired by a magazine, imagining all the fabulous things he will do when living that fantasy life, all the way through to the final enthusiastic,”Hey!” at the end of the song. I can’t wait for The Struts to make a music video for this one, and if it isn’t the most ostentatious thing since Freddie Mercury donned a crown and fur-trimmed cape and carried his microphone like a sceptre, I’ll be darned disappointed. So much is said about The Struts regarding their sound, look, and live performances, let’s take a moment to admire this smart lyric writing.
“I’ll fly privately, bon voyage economy
Exploring first world fantasy
No need to wake up before three if you’re me
I know I’ve got what it takes
I’ll get a beautiful face and a Morgan
Whizzing around all over the place
(On your marks, set, go!)
Someday I’ll be there
Country weekends, love affairs
I may not have that family tree
But I’ll be damned if I do not succeed
‘Cause one day everyone will know
I’m the star of my own show
Living life in luxury inside a Tatler Magazinefrom “Tatler Magazine” by The Struts
(I want to be) Inside a Tatler
Life’s a little bit sweeter in a Tatler Magazine
Ooh, Hey!”
Then came a medley of four songs from their album Everybody Wants, where they played the best parts of each tune, flying straight from one number into the next. The songs played were “Ol’ Switcheroo,” “Black Swan,” “Roll Up,” and “Young Star.” It was a clever way to highlight some of the songs from the earlier album without taking up too much of the allotted performance time by playing each one completely. “Young Star” holds a special place in my heart as my son used the first verse of it as his personal introduction prior to his elementary school graduation speech. Each speaker had a short slideshow of pictures showing him/her growing up, accompanied by a song of his/her choice. For my son, the line “now I’m here on the stage breaking the news” fell during two photos: a picture of him doing a stag jump in his dance clothes and one of him in costume as Michael Banks next to his theatre group’s poster for “Mary Poppins,” which he had performed in that same year. It was so completely fitting (the music/slide show stopped before the chorus kicked in, after all, he’s not famous …yet).
Whoops, had my own daydreaming moment there. Back to the show, Jed and Gethin took a break off stage, while Luke and Adam stayed on, with Adam wielding an acoustic guitar. Luke asked for everyone to put their phone lights on for “Mary Go Round.” Many people obliged and waved them back and forth over their heads — the modern version of lighters in the air. Afterward, Luke teased the crowd by singing the line “I bet your body’s so sweet” and got the intended response of “oh yeah” punctually delivered.
As the other guys prepared for the next song, Luke continued to patter to the audience in a drawn out introduction for their summer single release, proclaiming, “Let’s boogie, woogie, woogie!” Wait, do people still use those words? I think the last time I heard that phrase said in earnest was probably back when this song was last a covered hit. The band jammed through their personal take on “Dancing in the Street,” sounding like a blended version of the earlier covers by Van Halen and Jagger/Bowie with a little extra Struts pizzazz.
In advance of performing the next song “Put Your Money On Me,” Luke led the audience through singing the chorus a capella. Now we finally hear the awaited pop rock prize from Everybody Wants. The hook on this one is so absurdly infectious. I love the variation in style between the verse and the chorus too, almost as if they were two different songs that were stitched together or written by different people, like when John Lennon would write a song, but Paul McCartney would come up with the bridge. There’s also something about this song that reminds me of “Wake Up Boo” by the Boo Radleys, but I can’t put my finger on what it is, maybe the same pop production aesthetic. Maybe they woke up every morning to this song on Radio 1 when they were school kids and that infected the songwriting parts of their brains and this tune issued forth. Anyway, I’m just brainstorming here, but if I were to invest money in a band like I do in the stock market, my money would definitely be on The Struts.
Luke spent more time after the song playing around with the crowd. First, he announced that The Struts were trying to find the loudest crowd on tour and used a sound measuring device as the crowd screamed and shouted like crazy. He then challenged the left and right sides of the audience to outdo each other, as he led each side of the room in some echoed back vocal gymnastics. Once we are all good and warmed up vocally, the band played “Where Did She Go” with the audience opening up loud and strong on the chorus. This is an ideal number to close the main set as it is fun to singalong with and is also the closing track of Everybody Wants. It felt right to have the band walk off the stage at the end of the song.
The Struts: Encore
The encore began with Luke alone, on stage, at the piano playing “Somebody New.” Never mind all the bouncing around on stage, crossing from one side to the other, shimmy-shake dance moves, audience interaction, etc. It takes a true performer to silence a crowd of one thousand people and hold them in the palm of his hand. Then, without a word to encourage it, that same crowd spontaneously starts clapping along, to a ballad?! Here is the video I recorded from the loge that night at the show.
Luke stayed positioned at the piano and Adam, Jed, and Gethin returned to the stage for “Ashes.” This rock ballad starts with piano and simple guitar supporting the vocal line and then builds dramatically when the drums and bass kick in as the emotional tower of the song is constructed. I absolutely adore the tone that Adam pulled from that Gibson Les Paul Goldtop, particularly during his brief blazing solo and in the outro. Another memorable moment of the night, so I have borrowed a line from the song for the title of this post. I also recorded this one, but with the full band playing, the sound quality doesn’t translate quite so well through my old camera. I share it here, nonetheless.
Naturally, they closed the show with the song that brought everyone’s attention to the band, “Could Have Been Me.” It is another ambitious tune that made for a super singalong, particularly during the chorus.
“I wanna taste love and pain
from “Could Have Been Me” by The Struts
Wanna feel pride and shame
I don’t wanna take my time
Don’t wanna waste one line
I wanna live better days
Never look back and say
Could Have Been Me
It Could Have Been Me…”
That concert evening certainly made my July 2nd count as one of the better days. I highly recommend seeing The Struts live in concert. You won’t regret it, and because you took that action, you won’t have to read through other peoples’ happy posts and look at cool photos on Instagram after the show and say, “Could have been me.”