The Marquee Theatre decked the halls for the holiday season, welcoming The Struts on Sunday for night two of ALT AZ 93.3’s Ugly Sweater Holiday Party concert series. The British glam rockers drew an eclectic crowd of all ages for a night of rollicking, cheeky fun.
We’ve been watching The Struts grow and evolve over the last several years and one thing that never changes is their stellar live show. The quartet always enters the room knowing that everyone in it is about to have a marvelous time and they do everything possible to elevate the experience as much as possible. While they’re not reinventing the glam rock wheel, as the band says themselves, it’s not necessary because “I Do It So Well”.
This time around, The Struts emerged in dapper suits in deep navy and black, with singer Luke Spiller putting a dash of fashion into his lipstick-patterned boots (we absolutely had some commotion for the shoes). The band shares vocal duties behind Spiller’s rafter-reaching high notes and they made sure to get the fans involved on “Kiss This” and the high energy “Dirty Sexy Money”.
In between songs, Spiller informed the room that this would be the band’s last show for awhile- drawing disappointment until he revealed that it’s because they’ve begun work on their next album. To hold everyone over until then, Arizona was treated to “Pretty Vicious”, a single that keeps to the true spirit of the band and their sound.
Gratitude was the theme of the evening- next to being sexy and fun at the same time- and The Struts were overflowing with their thankful expressions for the fans who continue to show up tour after tour. As usual, the fans reciprocated, especially on the acoustic sing-a-long to “Mary Go Round” as the venue lit up with hundreds of cell phone lights.
Just when we thought the band had nothing left to give, they proved us wrong with a rainbow-tinted encore of “Could Have Been Me”. These ugly sweater shows are an Arizona tradition at this point and we couldn’t think of a better way to ignite the spirit of the season than gathering for such an incredible time. While the band will be disappearing for a time, Spiller made sure to promise that they’d be back bigger and better in the new year to party once more.
Check out all the photos from the show!
Story and photos by Olivia Khiel
