Concert Review: The Struts At Kansas City’s Ameristar Casino, 10/25/2024

*Photo of The Struts (from l. to r. -Gethin Davies, Luke Spiller, Jed Elliott) taken by your intrepid blogger with his crap iPhone camera

There’s nothing like a good ol’ rock n roll concert to shake me out of the workaday doldrums. The Rock Chick discovered a few months back that the Struts, who we saw last November, were returning to Kansas City for a show October 25th. Last time they were hear they played the Truman, which is an interesting little venue but last night they were in a bigger venue with a bigger stage at the Ameristar Casino. The Struts, Luke Spiller (vocals), Adam Slack (guitar), Jed Elliott (bass) and Gethin Davies (drums), had a much bigger stage to work with last night and believe me, they utilized every square inch of that thing.

Originally Grouplove, a band the Rock Chick digs, was supposed to be the opening act but apparently they aren’t on the tour anymore. The Rock Chick and I piled into the car and drove up to the mysterious land north of the river to North Kansas City to the land of casinos to see this great British rock band. I ordered a double vodka and the barkeep, sensing I was a rock n roll dude, gave me a drink that can only be comparable to a bucket of vodka… which just meant I wasn’t going to have to return to the bar during the show… Bonus! They just do things differently north of the river.

The lights went out right after 8:30 and to the gloriously loud sound of Queen doing “We Will Rock You” out came the band: Slack, Elliott, and Davies. I noticed quickly that Slack and Elliott were dressed in black track suits with red trim. After a few warm up notes, out comes front man Luke Spiller in a bright red “puffy shirt” and black tights with red fringe. Say what you want about the Struts, they are bringing the campy rock back, baby! And I mean that in the best possible way. Spiller is part Freddie Mercury, part Austin Powers. The guy is a perpetual motion machine, dancing, running around, directing the crowd. He polled the crowd at one point to see if who had seen the Struts before and who were seeing them for the first time. He welcomed the newcomers with, “Welcome to the Struts family, baby…” What’s not to love there?

Last night’s show was fantastic, although I will say the November ’23 show was probably a little better. They played for a good hour and a half but the setlist felt shorter to me than last time, although the Rock Chick thinks I’m nuts there. This is a band who has been constantly on the road for at least a year – they just got back to America and had played Milan, Italy less than a week ago – and they do look a little tired, especially Adam Slack. Even when he was introduced and played a short solo he looked like a man who needed a nap. No need to worry though, Spiller and bassist Jed Elliott (one of the most handsome dudes to ever play bass) had more than enough energy to ignite the crowd. Speaking of the crowd, it was a pretty mixed group. I saw some  young kids, some young ladies and a lot of grey hair.

These guys came out last night and took no prisoners. They opened with the great “Primadonna Like Me” and that led straight into one of my favorites, “Fallin’ With Me.” “Wear something trashy…” Then it was “Body Talks” and “Too Good At Raising Hell,” which I consider a theme song. That latter song just rocked. Spiller had the crowd singing along…”sex so good make the neighbors smoke a cigarette.” They played their brand new single – like a 70s band these guys still release the stray single – “Can’t Stop Talking,” which the Rock Chick would tell you is my actual theme song. It’s a great new song and the new video just dropped yesterday:

After the epic, “Kiss This,” they played a track I wasn’t familiar with, “Better Love” which was a great tune, I’m going to go look for that… After that the rhythm section left and just Spiller and Slack stayed on stage for the quietly majestic “I Won’t Run.” Next up was a stunning rendition of “Pretty Vicious” that once again had the crowd going nuts, swinging their hands in the air. After a few more rocking tracks they concluded the evening with another big track “Could Have Been Me.” And with that they were waving goodbye and the lights came up. No encore?

Other than the lads looking a little tired and the lack of an encore, it was a perfect Struts show. They played every song I wanted to hear and a few I wasn’t familiar with that I’m now really digging. What more can you ask from a rock band? Spiller’s energy and bonhomie was contagious. It was nothing but good, upbeat, party vibes last night which I know I needed. It reminds me of concerts back when I was in high school.

These guys are constantly on the road and I assume will remain so for the time being. If they’re in a hall near you – buy the ticket, see the show – you gotta see these guys. They played, gads, Ft. Smith, Arkansas on Thursday night so I have to assume they’re playing everywhere. It’s a guaranteed good time! I know I’m walking around today with that post-concert, buzzing euphoria. It’s nice to be in the Struts family!

Cheers!