Live music listener beware, Julian Casablancas is loud. As he cradles helplessly toward his microphone, the lead singer of The Strokes knows of one way to sing, and that is to shake, rattle, and roll...every eardrum in sight. And given the way that his band performs—always carrying a straightforward beat at a busy pace—this can hardly be a bad thing.
Playing to a sold-out Pageant crowd, Casablancas’ piercing vocals led the way through a swift 70-minute set that often sounded the same, but never let the crowd catch its breath. Opening up with the pounding “Reptilia” off of their latest album, Room on Fire, the stylish boys from New York set an intensity level that allowed the mostly-standing crowd to keep their feet moving and their earplugs from collecting dust.
Wasting no time, Casablancas and bassist Nikolai Fraiture, guitarists Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi, and drummer Fab Moretti then ripped into “Last Nite,” the band’s most recognizable song from their first album, Is This It. And although it seemed that the song was played early in the set just to get it over with, the band still delivered it with grace, making the song sound just as clean as the recorded version on the album.
From there came another handful of tunes from Room on Fire, including “You Talk Way Too Much,” which Casablancas admitted might sound a bit rough because they hadn’t played it yet on the tour. The song did sound somewhat flat, partly because Casablancas could never really explode and get the song moving in the direction he would have liked. This however was a rare moment, as he and the band steadily regained their bouncing groove on “12:51” and “I Can’t Win,” which featured many inspired solos from Hammond Jr. and Valensi. This renewed focus prompted two fans (along with a pair of panties) to blast past security and dance with Casablancas onstage. The fans were quickly escorted away but Casablancas never really seemed to mind—he actually gave props to a member of security who was caught jamming out in the aisles to “Someday.”
As the show winded down and the songs started to sound repetitive, The Strokes managed to maintain a high energy level through their final effort, “Take It or Leave It.” And although there would surprisingly be no encore, the majority of the fans in attendance would most likely “take” rather than “leave” what they got for their twenty bucks. Granted, for their next album and tour, it would be nice to see them become more innovative with their sound. But maybe it’s just as well—not many bands can rock out for only 70 minutes, produce so many smiles on so many faces, and cause a security macho man to get down. Stroke on.
