Category: Concerts

Being a woman in the world right now is complicated. It feels political to even exist, let alone as a young woman and having to contend with other people’s seemingly endless views on your body, career, lifestyle, appearance, education and dating prospects.

The music industry is a male dominated world; the treatment of female musicians has been well documented throughout modern history, so it’s incredibly refreshing to see a group of young women sticking up for themselves and writing and producing their own (fantastic) songs, all while looking like the Power Puff Girls. Enter, Trousdale.

Quinn D’Andrea, Georgia Greene and Lauren Jones make up the country pop trio, who have established themselves as talented songwriters with a bone-deep understanding of hooks and melody, along with astonishingly clear harmonies, both recorded and live.

Speaking of live, I went along to London’s Heaven nightclub on Thursday 5th February to finally witness this brightly coloured, platform-soled extravaganza for myself. Starting with Growing Pains, the first song from their 2025 namesake album, and armed with only a keyboard, a tambourine and an acoustic guitar, it became obvious that the total absence of a backing band, set props or special effects meant there was nowhere to hide should anyone hit the wrong note. Luckily, this didn’t happen – Trousdale proved their chops in the strongest way possible by having no safety net. Lonely Night, Over and Over and Want Me Back followed and the latter especially demonstrated the band’s knack for softer, more restrained vocal control in contrast to fully-fledged belting. Despite this, a piercing cover of Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain (also known to some of us as the Formula One theme tune) soared over the audience’s heads and directly through our chests at once, and the band tied up the set with fan favourite Thinking About You after successfully teaching a crash-course in three-part harmonies.

It was clear to see how much Trousdale love their UK fans and the support they (rightfully) receive from across the pond. More than anything, it’s heartening to see young women staring the state of the world squarely in the face and using it as fuel to power their creativity. With their unique combination of songwriting, production and vocal talent, mixed with a healthy dose of audacity, Trousdale are role models for other young women making their way in a world determined to stop them.

Life is mundane. People get up, go to work, come home, make dinner, go food shopping, go to the pub. These moments are embroidered with holidays, friends, good food, nice weather, but hidden among them are tiny, rarer pockets of magic. One such pocket was The Struts live at Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

Gethin Davies (drums) walked onstage, followed closely were guitarist Adam Slack & bassist Jed Elliot. We were subjected to the customary half-minute between the appearance of band and frontman before Luke Spiller strode out. The guy’s like if someone took 1974 Freddie Mercury, 1984 David Lee Roth and the dance ability of Michael Jackson and threw them into the Hadron Collider with a pair of purple flares. There was no time to ease into it – the opening chords of Primadonna Like Me promised a relentless mission to subject the audience to an all-encompassing exhaustion.

The groove of Body Talks and the chants of I Hate How Much I Want You had the audience as loud as Spiller (disappointingly, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard didn’t make a surprise guest appearance for the latter). Low Key In Love and Mary Go Round brought the pace down but did nothing to dampen the energy. A mashup which included Put Your Hands Up, Bulletproof Baby and All Dressed Up (With Nowhere To Go) had Spiller punctuating every verse with the sort of razor-sharp pose which stood as a testament to how deeply each beat is engrained in him.

Everyone was waiting for the same song when the encore came. Could Have Been Me epitomizes the theme of most – if not all – Struts songs. They make you feel like you’re standing at the edge of the world, building and pushing you closer to the brink with every chord progression and melody. Finally, they don’t just push you over the cliff, you’re lifted up and thrown towards the sky. And it keeps going. You soar with every key change, chorus, crescendo. Every time you feel the heart and soul of each member of this band ripping through the music, you go higher.

Never before had I been so desperate for a concert not to end.. Drunk partially on rum and coke, but primarily giddy and full to the brim with joy, the concert energised me rather than tired me. I sprinted across Shepherd’s Bush Green simply to see if it would expel any of the adrenaline coursing through me (it didn’t). I felt weightless with joy.

You should most definitely see the Struts if you can. The sense of joy reverberating around that room, bouncing off the union jack covering the back of the stage and being absorbed by those in the rafters was palpable. It felt like a celebration of life and a reminder that it’s what you make it. So, the Struts command, make it good.