The Struts and The Haunt Tear Up Long Island

It was a Sunday night in the town of Huntington Long Island. One never knows what sort of crowd to expect the night before the start of the work week. I was quite surprised when I drove past the venue two hours before the scheduled door opening to see people queued up down the street. That was a clear sign of what was to come!

Opening the night was an up-and-coming band you need to be aware of! The Haunt is fronted by the brother and sister duo of Maxamillion and Anastasia Haunt. Filling out the powerful lineup is accomplished bassist Nat Smallish and the hard-hitting Nick Lewert on drums. Max is 23 and Anastasia is a mere 19 years old. Don’t let the age of the siblings fool you, they have the stage presence of bona fide veterans. They have 7 years of performing behind them. As such, they have observed and absorbed much along the road.

They broke out with their debut extended play, “The Haunt EP” in 2017 and there has been no turning back. They have another EP “Social Intercourse” and a string of singles to their name. The single “I’m Not Yours” was released earlier this year. This thumping fuzz-infused masterpiece is indicative of one of their live shows. Anastasia’s voice is forceful while the band forcefully backs her but doesn’t overwhelm her haunting vocals.

Their set this evening was nothing short of brilliant. It was a show that saw a number of their family members in attendance which no doubt made it a fun show for the siblings. Being allowed to photograph an entire set from the pit normally means being unable to truly judge the crowd as we have our backs to them. However, this was not the case in Huntington. The crowd responded loudly and enthusiastically as The Haunt did what an opening band should do. They played an energetic set as a build-up to the headliners. Judging from the buzz around the merch stand, they won over a lot of new fans. Keep your eyes open, this is a band that will no doubt be going places!!!

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The lights went down and “Rock And Roll” by disgraced glam rock king Gary Glitter came blaring through the speakers. Then,  The Struts stormed the stage! More accurately,  guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliott, and drummer Gethin Davies hit the stage. While they played the intro to “Prima Donna Like Me”, frontman Luke Spilling stormed the stage. The audience gave him an absolutely wild reception. Strutting across the stage showed Spilling certainly had the glam rock attitude and moves down to a “T”. He was dressed in a simple black vest with a blue tie. It was not very glam-like however, no one cared.

Formed in 2012, The Struts have released 2 digital EPs, 3 studio albums, and a live digital album. Their latest single, “Fallin’ With Me” has a very infectious beat and is loaded with hooks that drag the listener in. It’s made complete for a live show with an “oh oh oh” line that makes for a great audience sing-along. Hopefully, it’s the precursor of their next album!

While their set consisted of mostly originals, they threw a couple of covers into the mix. The Stones’ “Jumping Jack Flash” was a very fitting cover as Spilling did a great version of the “Jagger Swagger”. They also performed a cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Games”. This was a very unlikely cover which proved very different from the original. They took a deep and soulful song and infused it with the energy of an original Struts song. Bottom line, they made it work!

It’s a shame that this tour is such a short run of shows as they put on a show that is not to miss! There are only a couple of headlining shows with a few festival shows added in for good measure. Click HERE for upcoming dates and don’t miss them if they end up near you!

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Set List

Paramount Theater, Huntington Long Island NY  9/11/22

  1. Primadonna Like Me
  2. Body Talks
  3. Kiss This
  4. I Hate How Much I Want You
  5. Fire (Part 1)
  6. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
  7. One Night Only
  8. Dirty Sexy Money
  9. Fallin’ With Me
  10. Mary Go Round
    (Acoustic)
  11. Put Your Money On Me
  12. 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
  13. Wicked Game
  14. Wild Child
  15. I Do It So Well
  16. Could Have Been Me
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