By Rachelle Greenberg, Photos by Dave Moto
August ended on a fantastic note, The Struts were at Jannus Live kicking off their postponed US tour. This glam-rock band features: Luke Spiller (singer), Adam Slack (guitarist), Jed Elliott (bassist) and Gethin Davies (drummer). Originating from Derby, England, The Struts have opened for such iconic artists as The Who, The Rolling Stones, Guns N Roses and The Foo Fighters Dave Grohl hand-picked to open for them). “He came to a show in DC and we got talking. He was really impressed by our performance and ended up giving us a small run of dates, he just kept asking us to do more shows. We ended up touring with them for a year”, front man Luke told TBMN. Looking like a young Freddie Mercury (minus the stash), he channels Bowie’s glam (Ziggy Stardust era) as he struts (how they got their name) around the stage with such presence, I guess you can say he has the “moves like Jagger”.
During quarantine, with time on his hands, Luke started a live Instagram show called “Quarantine Radio”. He used this platform for live chats, shared unreleased early Struts songs, connected, and collaborated with the likes of Drake, Chris Brown, LP and Robbie Williams. They have released songs with Kesha, “Body Talks” and Paris Jackson, “Low Key in Love”. While in quarantine, and taking advantage of the opportunity, they wrote and produced their latest album, “Strange Days” in ONLY 10 days, which Robbie Williams vocals can be heard on the title song. This album produced so many great songs, I asked Luke, what the main contributing factors were that made that time so conducive for such creativity? “Probably the fact that we were just so ready to create something as a band. We rarely get an entire 10 days to record, so we just jumped at the chance to do so”.
The Struts rocked downtown St Pete. to a crowd of fans who didn’t care about the sweltering heat causing clothes to be drenched or makeup to run. After all, they have been patiently waiting to finally see their favorite band live. The band confessed that Atlanta, NYC, Philly, LA, and Nashville are their favorite cities to play in the US, I’m confident that St. Pete is now on that list. This is Flava-Rae Rockin’ Out…because it’s what I do!
For those who have never heard their music, check them out at https://thestruts.com
