The Masquerade in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, welcomed British glam rockers The Struts to town on Friday night for their latest tour stop. Out on the road celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their U.S. debut release, Everybody Wants, The Struts had artist support from Los Angeles-based Dirty Honey. Established in 1989, the Masquerade provides a unique concert venue experience, offering up four different indoor rooms which can handle a wide variety of capacities, individually named Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and Alter. The largest venue space, Heaven, played host to the evening’s event, with general admission fans battling holiday weekend and Dragon Con traffic just to make it in time for doors.
Kicking off the night at 8:00pm was Dirty Honey, a gritty, classic rock influenced band that has passed through the Atlanta area multiple times over the past few years. With Jaydon Bean behind his kit, John Notto (guitars), Justin Smolian (bass), and singer Marc LaBelle started their evening off with the powerful tune “Gypsy” pulled from their self-titled 2021 debut. This was a pleasant surprise, as not only is it one of my favorite songs, but it has rarely been played live at their prior shows I have attended.
For nearly 45 minutes, Dirty Honey blasted through a more condensed 10-song set due to their opening slot. Early tunes like “California Dreamin’” and “Heartbreaker” highlighted performance staples (if you had seen them before), but following those tracks was an unexpectedly included new banger in “Too Good at Being Bad.” If this song was any indication of what is to come from the continued songwriting evolution of combining LaBelle’s unique vocals with the band’s distinctive tone, 2026 will be super exciting for us Dirty Honey fans.
With limited time, Dirty Honey did chose to pass on playing their beautiful ballad “Coming Home (Ballad of the Shire)” and instead just focused on amping up the early audience with catchy catalog tunes. The band delivered emphatic back-to-back performances of “When I’m Gone,” which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart back in 2019, and “Won’t Take Me Alive,” before putting the punctuation mark on their night by playing arguably their most well-known song from their 2019 self-titled EP, “Rolling 7s.” Dirty Honey continues to be a must-see band on your musical bingo card, whether out on the road opening or headlining.
Dirty Honey
Marc LaBelle – Vocals
John Notto – Guitars
Justin Smolian – Bass
Jaydon Bean – Drums
Setlist:
1.) Gypsy
2.) California Dreamin’
3.) Heartbreaker
4.) Too Good at Being Bad
5.) Another Last Time
6.) The Wire
7.) Don’t Put Out the Fire
8.) When I’m Gone
9.) Won’t Take Me Alive
10.) Rolling 7s
Following a 30-minute equipment and backdrop change, British glam rockers The Struts took to the stage around 9:15pm in front of a near capacity and eclectically diverse crowd. Anchored by charismatic frontman Luke Spiller, the band rounded out by Gethin Davies (drums), Jed Elliott (Bass), and Adam Slack (guitars) energetically blasted into “Primadonna Like Me” and “Body Talks” as back-to-back performances off their second studio album, Young & Dangerous (2018), to begin their Friday night.
However, the primary marketing focus of this show was the 10th anniversary musical celebration for the band’s U.S. debut album release, Everybody Wants, of which The Struts played it sequentially (albeit technically as the 13-song 2016 full reissue version). This of course included the ever-popular hits “Could Have Been Me” and “Kiss Me” early in the set, but that did not stop the band’s dedicated and adoring fans from singing along with the magnetic Spiller throughout the album’s entire performance duration. If you have never seen The Struts live before, they simply exuded energy and fun.
After putting Everybody Wants in the books, The Struts then took a quick break before reappearing for their two-song encore, with Spiller jokingly flashing his fingers being pulled from jacket as to how many more songs they would perform. Taking his seat behind the piano, Spiller introduced his bandmates, and then lead the band into “One Night Only,” which was a return to Young & Dangerous. The band then put the finishing touch on their enjoyable evening with an arm-swinging, crowd-jumping rendition of “Pretty Vicious” off their 2023 release of the same name.
The Everybody Wants 10th anniversary tour continues on through Saturday, October 4th, where The Struts will wrap up their current U.S. dates at the House of Blues in San Diego, California.
The Struts
Luke Spiller – Lead vocals, piano
Adam Slack – Guitars, background vocals
Jed Elliott – Bass, background vocals
Gethin Davies – Drums, background vocals
Setlist:
1.) Primadonna Like Me
2.) Body Talks
EVERYBODY WANTS (2016 Reissue)
3.) Roll Up
4.) Could Have Been Me
5.) Kiss This
6.) Put Your Money on Me
7.) Mary Go Round
8.) Dirty Sexy Money
9.) The Ol’ Switcheroo
10.) She Makes Me Feel
11.) Young Stars
12.) Black Swan
13.) These Times Are Changing
14.) Only Just a Call Away
15.) Where Did She Go
Encore
16.) One Night Only
17.) Pretty Vicious
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Elliott is a music photographer covering shows in Atlanta, Georgia, and the surrounding area. The highlight of his photography career was back in the early ’90s, when he sold Neil Diamond the rights to his negatives from a show and then purchased a set of tires for his 1979 280ZX during college with the money.