Live Review: The Struts and Barns Courtney - Roundhouse, London 06/10/2024
The Struts and Barns Courtney bring their rock n roll flair to the Roundhouse.
On a lively Sunday night at Camden’s Roundhouse, Barns Courtney opens for the Struts on their co-headliner Grand Union European tour. Barns previously was the support for their headline American tour for fourth album, ‘Pretty Vicious’, and on this showing deserves a full tour of his own. British born but raised in the US, Barns thrills the crowd with his powerful vocals and a style straight from the 80s rock heyday, all long hair, Cuban heel boots and open shirts reminiscent of bands like Guns N’ Roses and Motley Crue.
Speaking candidly about his humble beginnings before he made it as an artist, Barns tells the excitable crowd how he used to sell cigarettes in a pub nearby in Camden in a blue acrylic suit, which gets a great response. His track ‘Kids Are Alright’ from his new album culminated in him screaming the chorus whilst straddling the drum kit in a moment of pure rock n roll showmanship. His energy was boundless, crowd surfing and getting so far back into the audience he was able to climb on a railing at the back of the stage, an unpredictable performance that left the crowd wanting more. He will have won over a legion of new fans after tonight with his wild antics and strong gravelly vocals showcased in final storming song ‘Young in America’
The Struts headline the prestigious Roundhouse after a huge performance at this year’s Download festival. The Derby band’s frontman Luke Spiller gets the energy levels rising with his swagger in opener ‘Primadonna Like Me’ his fringed outfit reminiscent of a young Dave Lee Roth, apt for a band who were named for the singer’s tendency to “Strut around a lot” as revealed in a 2015 interview. Luke doesn’t stand still for a moment, and has the audience in the palm of his hand waiting on his every move.
‘Too Good At Raising Hell’ is classic glam rock, with its storming chorus and raising devil horns in the air bringing the flair to this highly theatrical show, in keeping with the grandiose aesthetics of the venue. Ever the charismatic frontman Luke has the buzzing crowd moving and jumping, singing along to the refrain from ‘Can’t Stop Talking’ with its tongue in cheek lyrics ‘I’ve made so many enemies cause I can’t stop talking’.
Prior to album namesake ‘Pretty Vicious’, released in November the band brought on French singer Mango in Euphoria whose legs and pretty vicious tattoos grace the album cover. The song tells the story of a person with a seductive but destructive allure, powerful and spellbinding ‘you know you got it, you’re so hypnotic, dance like everyone’s watching’.
During their penultimate song ‘Put Your Money On Me’ Luke stepped into the crowd to officiate a left side v right side sing off, riffing off with bars that wouldn’t have sounded out of place sung by Freddie Mercury at the peak of his powers. Lost in the moment, Luke exclaims “Some people judge a crowd by how long they scream, how loud they shout”, but he says it’s the opposite, asking the crowd to freeze and be completely silent until he tells them to go wild. This more knee friendly version of the widely used crouch down onto the beer sodden venue floor, is kinder to his fans, of which the majority willingly get involved in tonight.
Final song ‘Could Have Been Me’ with its lyrics ‘Don't wanna live as an untold story. I'd rather go out in a blaze of glory’ tells of the band’s desire to go their own way into rock, after their previous record label tried to take them down a more indie route. It feels impossible to imagine Luke in the indie uniform that the label tried to coerce him into, skinny jeans trainers and short hair do not fit his demeanour at all, something which could be said of the entire audience. No one needs to tell Camden that rock music isn’t dead, and it's clear that their defiance to make rock music has more than paid off.
Words by Brendan Sharp
Photography by Stefania Semini / @arach.nee
