Strange Days Are Over...or are they?!

The Struts with Charming Liars and World's First Cinema

Photos by: Samantha Madnick

Words by: Rudy Flores

IG: Shutter Hub Media

Lines around the block at the San Diego House of Blues are nothing new but for Thursday night's performance of The Struts featuring Charming Liars and World's First Cinema on the "Strange Days Are Over" tour seemed to be a bit longer than usual. With very good reason too, everyone in attendance was in for an amazing show which started off with Charming Liars out of L.A. by way of London's West End. The band started by guitarist Karnig Manoukian and bassist Mike Kruger jumped on stage ready to go as their infectious sound was a reminiscent of the 80's British new wave sensations Duran Duran complete with singer Kiliyan Maguire donning a classic white suit and black tank. Drummer Joshua Rey was the heart beat of the band and definitely rounded the group out wonderfully. The set was short but going by how the crowd responded they made an impact for sure! Their latest single "Wreck It All" can be found on Spotify and is well worth the listen!

Up next was World's First Cinema, an interesting name for an interesting band. As the stage hands set the stage with a candelabra there were a few confused but extremely curious murmurs... The duo of Fil Thorpe (formerly a founding member of Neck Deep) and Jon Sinclair brought their epic sounds, amazing vocals and SUPER high energy to the stage to an uproarious applause. Each song told stories that would fit perfectly with Panic or MCR any day of the week but were unquestionably their own. Beautifully composed and almost movie score like (fitting their name) with poppy tones...not the bad pop though...more so that pop sound that will get them remembered for years to come. Team that up with an almost hypnotic control of the crowd and these pied pipers of musical story telling had the total package!!

Now it was time for the British Invasion to take full effect as The band everyone was waiting for THE STRUTS took the stage in all of their glam rock/metal throw back glory! From jump they got the fun times amped up to 11 with their 2018 hit "Primadonna Like Me" from the Young and Dangerous album and followed up quickly with "Body Talks" and "Kiss This". As the performance went on Luke started in on his crowd work and let everyone know that the House of Blues was the first venue he played in San Diego, which got a huge round of applause from the crowd. Later on in the set they did a medley of sorts with Put Your Hands Up / These Times Are Changing / Bulletproof Baby / All Dressed Up (With Nowhere to Go) / Only Just a Call Away / Where Did She Go that was absolutely phenomenal to say the very least! Honestly there are no words to describe the effect Luke, Adam, Jed, and Gethin (amazing name) had on everyone other than FUCKING AWESOME!! Glitter and gusto with legit "Moves Like Jagger" (sorry Adam Levine but you might have to sit down now) have absolutely RUINED concerts for many people because The Struts have set the bar so high that few will ever be able to touch it!

They night ended with an encore (as any good band....and some not so good bands have been known to do) of "Strange Days" and their breakout hit "Could've Been Me". As usual the crowd, already sad that the night was drawing to an end, tore the roof off with applause and could be heard outside on the street. If you ever needed to have your faith in music restored tonight's performance did that and so much more! Definitely make your way out to the next show if you have the chance....you won't regret it!

The Struts:

World's Last Cinema:

Charming Liars: