LIVE REVIEW: THE STRUTS @ KOKO - 19/06/2018
Background:
One of the decades most surprising success stories, ‘The Struts’ have gradually progressed from a small band based in Derby to a world touring outfit who have played support slots to rock legends including ‘The Rolling Stones’, ‘Motley Crue’ and ‘The Foo Fighters’ all off of the strength of one album. After catching an impressive set at this years Download Festival, we went to KoKo to see their headline show.
KOKO 19/06/2018:
Tonight ‘The Rolling Stones’ play Twickenham Stadium, with tickets selling for up to £399. Whilst this may seem like a staggering amount of money for most of us, there is a cheaper solution as tonight doppelgängers ‘The Second Sons’ are playing KoKo for a fraction of the cost. Everything from the guitar tone to the way they are dressed screams of early day Stones and the Londoners take it all in their stride. In general, Spirit level are not fans of nostalgia acts, but ‘The Second Sons’ pack so much energy into their performance that we can’t help but share their enthusiasm.
Stage Presence is an absolute necessity when you are tasked with playing before ‘The Struts’ as the Derby quartet put on one hell of a show. Their recent set at Download Festival was more than enough to grab our interest, but tonight ‘The Struts’ take things to a whole new level. There are very few frontmen in modern rock who can match Luke Spiller when it comes to charisma who once again channels the likes of Freddie Mercury and Steve Tyler as he parades himself about the stage in a golden frilled catsuit. In fact the closest comparison that we are able to think of is that of Justin Hawkins from ‘The Darkness’. Both bands have successfully adopted classic rock with a contemporary swing and have more than just a touch of the eccentric. Where ‘The Struts’ may not have the riffs of the Lowestoft rockers, they more than make up for it with sizeable anthems. During the set we are treated to four new songs including their latest single ‘Body Talks’ and a cover of ‘Dancing In The Dark’ by ‘Bruce Springsteen’.
A four song encore is a little ambitious, but a surprise cover of ‘Rebel Rebel’ by the late ‘David Bowie’ followed by crowd pleaser ‘Could Have Been Me’ both sound fantastic and the band are able to leave the stage with their heads held high in the to the sound of hundreds of crazed fans begging for more.
