Julian Casablancas Covers Kings of Leon and Alicia Keys in New York

Posted on Jan 15th 2010 1:30PM by Ginny Yang
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Julian Casablancas kicked off a two-night hometown set at Terminal 5, charming the crowd with covers of tunes by Kings of Leon and, surprisingly, Alicia Keys. "This is my first show in New York in a long f---ing time," he announced to the audience. "You still got it." The same could be said for the singer. Clad in a leather vest and pants, the Strokes frontman kicked off his charged set with a rendition of 'Ludlow St.' before playing the remainder of his 2009 solo release, 'Phrazes for the Young.'

Julian admitted to the crowd he was nervous for the gig, but still swaggered across the stage confidently, occasionally tugging at his collar and hunching over the mic to deliver his droll vocals. Backed by a six-piece band, Casablancas got fans to sing along with new-wave numbers like '11th Dimension' and 'Out of the Blue,' then wandered aimlessly into the audience without breaking his lackadaisical stride. Julian also played a cover of 'Velvet Snow' by Kings of Leon, a new tune ("Just made that s--t up backstage!") as well as the Strokes' own 'I'll Try Anything Once.'

The hour-long performance was punctuated with plenty of synths and swearing. The rambling Casablancas riffed on Keys' recent 'Saturday Night Live' appearance, which apparently caused him to drop a line mid-song. ("I was still thinking about Alicia Keys," he explained after his slip-up.) However, he turned the gaffe around by closing his set with a few bars of the chorus from 'Empire State of Mind,' by Keys and Jay-Z, before retreating to his concrete jungle where solo dreams are made.