TVD Live Shots: The Struts, The Wrecks, and Thunderpussy at the Fillmore, 11/9

With their second album, Young & Dangerous, fresh out of the hopper, The Struts have the perfect reason to return to the states for a proper headlining tour. “The Body Talks Tour” hit The Fillmore in San Francisco on a Friday night for a sold-out evening of music.

The high-octane evening kicked off with opening sets from Thunderpussy and The Wrecks. Both bands clearly brought a good number of their own fans and proceeded to deliver incredibly energetic sets for the packed house. Whoever curated the tour lineup knocked it out of the park.

The Struts took the stage at 10PM and launched into “Primadonna Like Me,” the new album’s first single. Even though the record has been out only a few days, the San Francisco crowd clearly came prepared, ready to sing and dance along with front man Luke Spiller whose antics served to rile the already boisterous crowd.

Guitarist Adam Slack, it would later be revealed, was operating on minimal sleep after the previous evening’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show … clearly moving a little slowly as he sipped Lite Beer from a can, but his fingers flew across those frets when the moment demanded it. Bassist Jed Elliott and drummer Gethin Davies seemed to have fared much better from the previous night’s festivities and appeared to relish in Slack’s discomfort.

With only two albums, the set list covered the bases and then some. Frequent appeals for crowd participation and an extended cover of the Boss’s “Dancing in the Dark” which had Spiller bringing three “Courteney Coxs” on stage, extended the headlining set to an impressive hour and forty-five minutes. To some in the room (i.e. me), fifteen minutes could have easily been trimmed from the set but the majority of the fans didn’t seem to care one bit, clearly enjoying every note.

The Struts have nailed some pretty impressive supporting slots during their short time as a band, but Young & Dangerous puts them squarely into headlining territory; they’ve got the tunes, the moves, and the audience.

SETLIST
Primadonna Like Me
Body Talks
Kiss This
In Love with a Camera
Fire (Part 1)
Dirty Sexy Money
People
One Night Only
Dancing in the Dark (Bruce Springsteen cover)
Mary Go Round
Put Your Money on Me
Bulletproof Baby
Where Did She Go

ENCORE
Somebody New
Ashes (Part 2)
Could Have Been Me