Last night, The Struts were joined by supporting act Barns Courtney indoors at Stage AE on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. Barns Courtney is an English singer/songwriter who first signed a record deal at the age of nineteen with Island Records out of Los Angeles for the indie band Dive Bella Dive.
Now in his thirties, Barns Courtney’s new album Supernatural was released in July after four long years of labor. While we weren’t familiar with the artist, his band caught our eye even before they hit the stage. We noticed his guitarist Andrew Berkeley Martin taking a stroll down the street, and looking the part of a true rockstar as fans lined up outside the venue and those gathered at nearby bars looked on in curiosity. We were pleased to find that their rock-star attitude continued when the show kicked off around 8pm with a surge of energy that we wouldn’t necessarily have anticipated from a supporting act. His touring band included Andrew Berkeley Martin on guitar, Jermaine Butler on bass, Davis IL on keys, and Brittany Macc on drums.
Barnes could be found swinging his microphone and even holding the cord in his mouth at times to free his hands while climbing across the small drum kit (and even falling at one point which made room for an acoustic song in the set as the crew had to reassemble it for a laughing Brittany), and jumping off the stage to visit the crowd to visit everyone for a quick hello.
In fact, he even took the time to shake hands with a few of us working in the pit as we tried to capture his energy in our snaps. The fans for this indie rockstar were mostly young girls who arrived early to meet the artist and secure their spots, but he won over the rest of the crowd quickly as they recognized songs like “Glitter & Gold” which is best known as the theme to Netflix’s Safe. While we didn’t gather much intel from the quick encounter last night, we I suspect this won’t be the last we will be hearing from Barnes Courtney.
The Struts had no problem taking the energy up yet another notch. You can literally see the energy in the fun motion capture of vocalist Luke Spiller, whose hair and fringe both stood on ends, as he leaped into the spotlight. His fancy footwork and overwhelming charisma instantly captured the crowd as we all sang along to the opener of “Primadonna Like Me.” And when I say all, I mean all. In fact, Luke caught me singing and gave me a few smiles and a nod of approval in response, which made for great photos.
Bassist Jed Elliot noticed as well and stuck his tongue out at one point, but I had just swapped lenses and sadly missed his expression. Adam Slack took centerstage for some soloing while we were in the zone, but what really caught our eye during this show were his baby blues as the band swam in a sea of blues and purples, especially since he seems to have recently darkened his hair. Gethin Davies wasn’t hiding as much as when we last saw the band at The Roxian theater last summer. So, we not only caught him, but also saw a note on his kit that had us most curious? “If you are reading this…” Not sure if it is like one of those “you’re too close” bumper stickers or instructions for his tech? But, either way it had us laughing.
x
Latter during the evening, fans were invited to point their phone cameras at the person that they came with and tell them that they like them but they are “in love with the camera” in segue to the song of the same name. But perhaps the most anticipated moment of the evening was just before the encore when the crowd parted to make way for the lively frontman who entered the crowd for “Put Your Money On Me,” and lead a competitive cheering contest before The Struts returned for three more favorites.
In encore, “Pretty Vicious” was followed by a piano solo for “One Night Only” which was dedicated to their crew and support, and the finale of all finales was “Could Have Been Me” as expected.
As The Struts continue on their Pretty Vicious tour with dates through the end of August, the one thing we know for certain is that they will be one of those new bands who can fill void left but our lost and retired rock stars of yesteryear. We only attempt to capture the magic that overwhelmed the crowd last night. We look forward to catching them again very soon.
Follow us @ThePureRockShop on Facebook and Instagram for more local shows like Trixter, Glenn Hughes, and Mike Tramp this fall, and festival coverage including the Mountain Music Festival in Gaitlinburg, TN later this month.
Coverage by Editor and founder Kara Marie Uhrlen with contributions from Kayla Uhrlen and posted on 8/12/2024. All event photos © Kara Uhrlen and The Pure Rock Shop.
