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After a Summer-long North American headline tour in support of their latest album ‘Pretty Vicious’, The Struts are back on the road with Barns Courtney, and this time around it is a co-headlining affair dubbed ‘The Grand Union Tour’. Running through until late October, the tour navigates 8 UK cities before crossing the Channel for another 11 shows in Europe. The co-headlining nature of the tour means that the closing act alternates regularly – although looking at the schedule, The Struts are closing more nights – and tonight, opening night, is the turn of Barns Courtney to close the evening.
Also along for the ride is opening act Springfield, Illinois-born and raised singer/songwriter James Bruner. Fronting a four-piece band (the impeccable Reverand Zach Mears on lead guitar is particularly spectacular), Bruner takes to the stage, solo, while most are still being frisked by security on the way into the venue. Opening with his new single ‘When I’m Down’, for a few moments it is just him and his electric guitar, but then one by one his impressive band (alongside Bruner, and Mears are TJ Fink on bass and Sam Jenkins on drums) takes to the stage and joins in, helping to build the song into a stunning few minutes of music that hint at a Jeff Buckley/Nick Drake influence.
With a short time to make an impression, Bruner is not hanging around and the set flies past in the blink of an eye. There is also a great deal of variety to be found within the 30 minutes; if’ ‘When I’m Down’ suggests a Buckley/Drake influence, then the towering ‘Wait For You’ goes in the opposite direction as it packs some Tony Iommi-sized opening riffs from Zach Mears; while ‘Alibi’ could be an early Arctic Monkeys track (if they learned how to play guitar that is) and Mears’ stunning slide work on ‘Better Days’ brings a Southern streak to the party. If the goal of an opening performance is to drive people towards YouTube, Spotify, social media, etc, then consider it a job done. A set well worthy of anyone’s attention.
There is something rather fitting about The Struts performing at the legendary Barrowland Ballroom. Luke Spiller treading the boards where David Bowie performed – as well as Ozzy, Metallica, Biffy Clyro, Oasis, U2, The Stranglers, The Clash, The Smiths, Big Country, Muse, Foo Fighters, etc, Christ, the list is endless – makes sense because Spiller is a born entertainer. Once Blur’s ‘Song 2’ and Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ fade out and the stage lights spring to life, his job is to bring happiness to the crowd, make them forget about their woes, and make them smile. And for 70 masterful minutes that is what Spiller and his 3 compadres do. The result is a set that will have people smiling for days afterward.
The tasseled trousers that Spiller is wearing might suggest Diamond Dave Lee Roth in his prime, but the mannerisms, and performance are all Great Britain baby, and if you are in any doubt, there is a large backdrop of Big Ben to remind you. According to Spiller he “Danced myself right out of the womb” and that’s impossible to argue with. Asking with tongue firmly in cheek on the set-opener ‘Primadonna Like Me’…“Hey you, don’t you know who I think I am?”, Spiller is equal parts Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Justin Hawkins, Frank-N-Furter, and when he steps back from the mic stand to bust a move: Michael Jackson. It helps that the material on offer is as catchy as hell, and the “Do you wanna? Do-do you wanna feel primadonna like me tonight?” chorus soon has the audience giving the sprung ballroom floor a proper seeing to.
Guitarist Adam Slack is probably The Struts’ secret weapon, and he says with a handful of chords what other guitarists take an entire song to say. Non-fussy and to the point (as are bandmates Jed Elliott on bass, and Welsh fire-breathing dragon Gethin Davies on drums), Slack provides the hooky chords for Spiller to strut his stuff as the band plows through 10 years of material to please. ‘Bulletproof Baby’ (from 2018’s sophomore album ‘Young & Dangerous’) goes down particularly well, so much so that once Spiller introduces it the crowd down the front stage left goes insane. One fan spends the next 3-minutes or so jumping and stamping like the world’s first human dynamo and generates enough energy to power the city for a day or two.
This relates to what was touched on earlier, The Struts are sheer entertainment. There is nothing highbrow about their music, they don’t want to change the world; they just want to make their audience smile and dance, and in the case of ‘In Love With a Camera’ – bounce. If Spiller says bounce, you bounce, if he says clap, you clap, and if he says sing, you sing. And if you are instructed to do all 3 simultaneously, then you do. When you buy a ticket to a show from The Struts, then Spiller has you in the palm of his hand, he is in control so park those inhibitions at the door and just go with the flow. Easily one of the most entertaining bands on the scene today. Do check social media if you are coming to a show though, as the early start did seem to catch a few out tonight.
How does Barns Courtney follow that up? By playing to his strengths and by taking his audience on a journey. Whereas The Struts are glorious technicolor, Courtney is stark, monochromatic, and certainly grittier. The UK-born singer/songwriter expels an almighty amount of demons during his performance and with his fans moving to the front as fans of The Struts retreat, he is preaching to his congregation. The choice of intro music perhaps offers up a clue to his approach: Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’.
Once the Chairman of the Board fades out, the stage explodes to life with a flurry of action as Courtney takes his place and asks the crowd to “Put on your sneakers/Blow up the speakers” on the ballsy set-opener ‘Fun Never Ends’. Packing a fantastic groove, it’s a stunning way to open a show and Courtney is covering every inch of the stage as he spits out lyrics and goads participation out of everyone that he can make eye contact with (‘Hands’ has the crowd roaring the “Woo hoo” parts back at BC). No time for chit-chat, it is straight into a furious run-through of ‘London Girls’ with Courtney strapping on a guitar for some added bite to the pulsating drum grooves blasting out of the darkness. Lifted from 2019’s ‘404’ album, it is a bit of a banger. As is ‘The Kids Are Alright’ (also from ‘404’) which follows later.
New album ‘Supernatural’ is still fresh in the minds of the BC fanbase, and live in the flesh the material aired from album number 3 sounds much heavier than the studio version. ‘National Treasure’ is a standout moment and arguably one of the best tracks that Barns Courtney has produced; ultra-modern enough to feature on multiple Spotify playlists, and ballsy enough to have the grizzled gig veteran in front of this reviewer pogoing like it is 1977 all over again. ‘Young In America’ is more mainstream in a Kings Of Leon-meets-The Killers kinda way, and had Courtney written this one for the Followill brothers then he would be sitting in Casa Del Courtney watching the royalties roll in. Somewhere out there, there is a soundtrack to the latest Indie-movie sensation missing this track. Same with the stunning ‘Heartbreak Hallelujah’ which is spellbinding and the perfect example of how to build a song.
Three very different bands on one bill, one of those nights where you go along to catch one band in particular and might just end up coming away having discovered your new favourite band.
All remaining tour dates can be found HERE.
Review – Dave
All images – Dave Jamieson
