In this paper, modal control with direct output feedback is formulated in a systematic manner for easy implementation. Its application to the seismic protection of structural systems is verified by a shaking table test, which involves a full-scale building model and an active bracing system as the control device. Two modal control cases, namely, one full-state feedback and one direct output feedback control were tested and compared. The experimental result shows that in mitigating the seismic response of building structures, modal control with direct output feedback can be as effective and efficient as that with full-state feedback control. For practical concerns, the control performance of the proposed method in the presence of sensor noise and stiffness modeling error was also investigated. The numerical result shows that although the control force may be increased, the maximum floor displacements of the controlled structure are very insensitive to sensor noise and modeling error.