It’s been less than a year since The Struts last visited Portland, OR and the Pacific Northwest, but the British quartet from Derby swaggered back into the Roseland Theater this past Friday on their Pretty Vicious tour, this time with their pal Barns Courtney tagging along to open up the night. And if you want anyone warming up the crowd, Barns is definitely the man to do it. He and his band energized the crowd with an enthusiastic and sweaty set that even included a quick FaceTime call to his brother while on stage.

The Queen anthem, “We Will Rock You” (a song the band has previously covered in the studio), got the crowd stomping along right before The Struts hit the stage around 9:15 PM, walking out in full lighting with drummer, Gethin Davies; bassist, Jed Elliot; and guitarist, Adam Slack, leading the way before vocalist, Luke Spiller, joined the rest of the crew on stage. After taking in the view of a pumped-up crowd, the band launched into “Primadonna Like Me” from their 2018 album and sophomore effort, Young & Dangerous. “Fallin’ With Me,” one of those singles that fell in between albums came next before Spiller spent “Body Talks” shimmying around the stage in a pair of fantastic kiss-covered boots. 

For being the Pretty Vicious tour, there was a surprising emphasis in the setlist on the band’s first few albums as opposed to the latest release, with only “Too Good at Raising Hell” and “Pretty Vicious” making an appearance with the full band. Spiller and Slack also performed an acoustic version of “I Won’t Run” in the middle of the set, but those three songs were all the crowd got from the band’s latest release.

That said, the older material truly brought everyone into the show. “Bulletproof Baby,” “Kiss This,” “In Love with a Camera,” and “Put Your Money On Me” all had the decrepit Roseland Theater’s floor bouncing around quite a bit heading into the encore break. Of course, “Could Have Been Me,” the massive single from the band’s 2014 debut, Everybody Wants, was the track to close out the night. Honestly, it’s hard to argue with that pick given the massive energy the song puts out in a crowded room. 5 stars: would listen again!