Luke Spiller of The Struts – Live In Drive-In Philly 08.18.20
On a cool evening in Philadelphia, The Struts launched the first of many live music events while practicing the new norm during this pandemic. It made sense to have The Struts open as the city of Philadelphia has adopted this band with this being their 16th performance in the city since their debut at Made in America festival in 2015. The city loves The Struts and they love the city.
Gethin Davies of The Struts – Live In Drive-In Philly 08.18.20
Would this new (hopefully temporary) way to rock work? Produced by Live Nation Philadelphia in partnership with the Philadelphia Phillies, and hosted by WMMR, they ingeniously kicked off a series of live events in the parking lot outside of Philadelphia’s major venues. Basically, social distancing by remaining in/near your car, with the car parked in every other slot. New norms were established including Mobile Merchandise Ordering and a COVID-specific Tour Health & Safety Plan. Replace clapping with car horns and headlights, and guess what, it worked!!
Adam Slack of The Struts – Live In Drive-In Philly 08.18.20
As the band took the stage, you could see the big grins on each player as they took it all in. The fans showed their appreciation by honking and flashing headlights. The stage set extra high and wide so all could see and sandwich between two HUGE video screens which allowed even the cheap seats to enjoy the car party.
Jed Elliott – The Struts – Live In Drive-In Philly 08.18.20
But wait there’s more …… throw in a horn section, provided by Michael Murphy and Jesse Blum from the band MisterWives and it brought a whole new sound to the performance. The band played their hits, but as promised premiered three new songs (Strange Days, Another Hit of Showmanship, and Cool). They brought out Philly based rocker Nick Perri (who opened) to play on “Cool”. The crowd was so ecstatic to finally push play again on live music!! The Struts did not disappoint as the band rocked through 12 songs filling a much need prescription of live music to the lucky crowd.
Nick Perri and Adam Slack jamming – Live In Drive-In Philly 08.18.20
The Struts announced a “Big” surprise coming and have been putting teasers out through their social media channels. They will officially release “Another Hit of Showmanship” a collaboration with Albert Hammond Jr of The Strokes on Friday 8/28/20. It will be available through all the usual music channels (Apple music, Spotify, etc.)
The Struts Setlist
Article and Photographs by: Bob Linneman
