THE STRUTS – Review – NUSU

THE STRUTS – 18.02.2019 – NEWCASTLE STUDENT UNION

In the deep dark underbelly of the Harry Potter-ish campus of Newcastle University, is the student union, where tonight The Struts play.

A crowd of all ages is waiting patiently, the mix of the crowd is more of a festival – families, friends gathering, waiting patiently for the main act to play.

Bursting on the stage, the Struts minus the frontman start to play, the crowd – scream fans chant and the glittery flash of lead singer Luke Spiller jumps to the front joining mid-song.

The crowd quickly react, swarming the stage, Luke Spiller reaching for the mic and offering to the crowd as they sing.  The lead singers performance is incredibly on point, the glitter on his cheeks dazzling with his outfit.  His black hair and eyeliner, from a distance, almost has a look of Vince Noir from the Mighty Boosh.  The showmanship is incredible, not too dissimilar from Freddie Mercury at Wembley.

The Struts have been touring with The Who and the Foo Fighters, you can immediately tell that this show is not a patch on other venues that they have under their glam rock belt, the band treat the crowd like royalty, Spiller encouraging with ‘Newcastle you are beautiful tonight’ how beautiful they were’ with the crowd screaming gleefully back.

Spiller starts the song ‘Primaddona Like Me’  the crowd chanting along.  Other stand out tracks include ‘body talks’ minus Keisha but that audience sang instead.

The sound of the band is almost T -Rex glam rock but with a glitter punk style.  The guitar riffs almost bluesy with an AC-DC feel. The tightness of the band is immediate – all looking at each other with Luke marching and gearing the crowd, all in perfect time.  Not surprising the showmanship is top notch, as they have been playing some serious support slots for bands that are the top of the Rock and Roll hierarchy, Mötley Crüe apparently cherry-picked The Struts to open their last-ever show in Los Angeles, Alice Cooper has appeared in the “Primadonna Like Me” video and Instagram shots of Dave Grol hanging around while Luke Spiller is in Hair and makeup are clocking up some hits!

 The Struts begin the first chords of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark” – it is like the crowd know what is about to happen, the audience start packing to the front while the sparkly lead singers start to point – “who will it be?” – that’s right, as Courtney Cox jumped on stage all those years ago with Bruce, Luke is looking for his very own Courtney!  The crowd is going wild at this point screaming to be picked. 

I haven’t seen a crowd react to a band like this in a long time!  Eventually, a young girl is brought to the stage, the crowd is a wave of hands holding phones now.  Olivia is introduced and the duet begins!

The timing of the gig is perfect, the album was released late 2018 which means by this time the fans can learn each lyric.  Thanks to social media, the band promote opportunities for the crowd to join in which must create a storm over social media channels.  Not only to the band have a key role in the marketing but creating a show alongside the music is everything.  It is genuinely dazzling to watch.  It won’t be long before this band is selling out at venues such as the Metro Radio Arena. 

All in all the night was fun, all ages attended and the crowd was fully absorbed. 

Olivia is you are out there – you were also famous on our Instagram stories with your dancing in the dark duet!

Reviewer – Carmichael – THE SLABCITY SHOW