Photos/Review: The Struts Bring Electrifying Rock Show to San Francisco's Warfield
Luke Spiller of The Struts performing at The Warfield in San Francisco, CA. March 3, 2020. Photo Credit: Jared Stossel
The Struts
w/ Starcrawler
The Warfield
San Francisco, CA
March 3, 2020
Photos and review by Jared Stossel
As the weeks have gone on and brought rock show after rock show to the Bay Area, a majority of the offerings have been predominantly in the vein of metal and hard rock. Tuesday evening, however, brought forth a straight-up, 70s-esque rock show that channelled the likes of Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and Queen to San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre. Every time that the UK’s The Struts play in the Bay Area, the venues keep getting bigger and bigger. Just last year, around the same time, the band headlined and performed to a sold out crowd at The Fillmore. This time around, they took the stage at the Warfield, located in the heart of San Francisco’s gritty Tenderloin District, and brought with them an energetic, technicolor-filled set of some of their biggest hits and fan favorites.
I found it rather interesting that the band began the show with three of their biggest hits: “Primadonna Like Me”, “Body Talks”, and “Kiss This”. But as the night went on, it made sense. The Struts have numerous songs that have permeated the Top 40 Radio and pop-culture membrane (I guarantee even if you’ve never listened to The Struts, you’ve heard at least one of the aforementioned songs), so by starting off the evening with three of their best, it kicks things up a notch. Everyone is already singing something they know, whether they’ve been a long time fan of the band or are a casual listener that wanted to check out the band they keep hearing on the radio.
It should be noted that The Struts’ lineup of musicians is one that is world-class: drummer Gethlin Davies and bassist Jed Elliott make it look easy to perform high-energy rock for over an hour and a half, doing it with a smile across their face for most of the show. Guitarist Addo Slack brings life to each powerfully catchy lead that make up their song catalogue. I feel at this point its impossible to not see the parallels between enigmatic frontmen like Mick Jagger and Freddie Mercury and The Struts vocalist Luke Spiller. He is an absolute scene-stealer, and he commands each song and the crowd as if he’s been doing it for decades. Never once is the show boring.
A lot of songs throughout the evening came from their 2018 album, YOUNG & DANGEROUS, but they threw in some memorable tracks from the 2016 album that launched their career, Everybody Wants (“Kiss This”, “Dirty Sexy Money”, “Where Did She Go”, “Put Your Money on Me”)., as well as their single “One Night Only”. Towards the end of the set, they threw in a performance of a great new, unreleased song called “Lowkey In Love”, a heartfelt track that I hope we see on an upcoming album.
One of the biggest standouts of this show, however, was the opener: Los Angeles’ Starcrawler. Never have I see an opener like them in all my years of photographing and reviewing shows. They’re a four-piece act that brings stadium-style rock in a punk rock fashion; their vocalist, Arrow de Wilde is the lost in the music, giving a violent and sexual performance all at the same time. Guitarist Henri Cash runs through the audience (which if you’ve been to The Warfield, is very hard to do) and plays in a refined yet chaotic fashion. de Wilde and Cash try to one up each other. Cash dives into the crowd, de Wilde asphyxiates herself with the microphone cable mid-song and then crab-walks across the stage. The rhythm section of bassist Tim Franco and drummer Austin Smith hold down each song and never let up. Starcrawler are one of the most unique modern-rock acts out there, and I can only imagine how absurd and crazy their headlining shows will be as they scale up the ladder of hierarchy in the genre.
I know that as the years go on, bands like The Struts and Starcrawler will lead the charge into the effort to keep rock music relevant. But personally, I don’t think it needs to be relevant; I think it just needs to be interesting and fun. And both of these bands proved this on Tuesday night over a period of a few hours. Know that if you ever need a night to let loose and forget your cares, The Struts are the show for you.
The Struts Set List
Primadonna Like Me
Body Talks
Kiss This
In Love With A Camera
Nobody Does It Like You
Fire (Part 1)
One Night Only
Dirty Sexy Money
Tatler Magazine
The Ol’ Switcheroo/Black Swan/Roll Up/Young Stars
I Do It So Well
Lowkey In Love
Put Your Money on Me
Where Did She Go
Encore:
Somebody New
Ashes (Part 2)
Could Have Been Me
The Struts
www.thestruts.com
www.facebook.com/thestruts
Twitter: @TheStruts
Instagram: @thestruts
Starcrawler
www.starcrawlermusic.com
www.facebook.com/starcrawlertheband
Twitter: @thestarcrawler
Instagram: @starcrawler
