“Do you believe in rock ‘n’ roll?” asks Kimi Shelter, the force of nature that fronts Starbenders. “Did music save your life like it did mine?”
She does all this before the band plays “The Game” on the first night of their UK tour. If that isn’t what you’d imagine from what is basically a glam rock band, then you’ve never seen Starbenders before. Most of the crowd has, in fairness, given that they opened for Palaye Royale in the main room here earlier in the year.
The Atlanta band does things a little differently. They arrive onstage in a mass of hair and riffs, preening and strutting. They’re rock stars, nothing more, nothing less.
But don’t think for one minute that they’re here for “Nothin’ But A Good Time” and that it’s 1987. Nope. “Blood Moon” screeches into view to disavow you of that notion.
There’s something mystical about the band too, as “Witches Be Witches” proves, and something ethereal too, as “Seven White Horses” underlines.
More than anything, though, their music oozes sex. “Body Talk” from their new album “Take Back The Night” is full of it, but “Marianne” exemplifies their ability for massive hooks that belong in arenas.
Guitar player Kriss Tokaji is in stunning form, and his solo is a joy, but there is little doubt as to where the focus lies. When Shelter seeks solace in the crowd in “The Game,” she meets her people, working up even more of a sweat (let’s just say they misjudged the English Autumn weather and weren’t expecting a heatwave…).
Musically, “Sex” is the distillation of the whole show, and then the stand-out “If You Need It” isn’t far behind. Its massive, swaggering hook belongs in front of bigger crowds than this.
They encore with the rather less strident “Precious,” and it is a short set for a headliner, at under an hour. But that’s long enough to be captivated by one of the more interesting bands in modern rock.
