Julian Casablancas Performs Strokes Songs at Chicago Show

Posted on Apr 7th 2010 10:30AM by Garin Pirnia
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With the recent announcements of the Strokes headlining the Isle of Wight festival in June, Lollapalooza in August and recording a fourth record, they're making a much delayed comeback. But, seemingly capitalizing on the fervor, Strokes lead singer Julian Casablancas gave fans what they wanted and played two Strokes songs at the Vic Theatre in Chicago Tuesday night.

Touring in support of his debut solo album, last year's 'Phrazes for the Young,' he took a break mid-set to give the audience a bit of nostalgia. The opening chords of hit song 'Hard to Explain' spurred the crowd into dancing, making it clear how much fans have missed the band. A few songs later, the six-piece backup group abandoned the stage, save for one keyboardist and Casablancas. Juxtaposing the high-energy of the previous Strokes song, he performed a beautiful, stripped-down demo of 'You Only Live Once' called 'I'll Try Anything Once.'

Most of the set consisted of 'Phrazes' songs, including the album's bonus material. Decked out in skinny red jeans and a leather jacket, Casablancas opened with a new song accompanied by two drummers, keyboardists and guitarist, and during the song, he managed to shake the hands of audience members in the front row. "So, what's going on, guys?" he asked the infectious crowd after playing the twangy 'Ludlow St.' "I love this f---in' venue."

Between songs, he floated around onstage and mentioned he didn't know what he was doing but he was having fun. He played the New Wave-ish 'Left & Right in the Dark' and the ballad-driven 'Glass' and '11th Dimension,' then brazenly kicked over his mic stand. Someone in audience yelled about the Strokes' upcoming Lolla appearance and Casablancas retorted, "Oh, you mean Chicago-palooza?" which caused the crowd to applaud.

After playing 'Out of the Blue,' he threw down his mic and walked offstage but came back for the first of two encores. He started to play the next song but stopped, complaining it was off key. After trying to remedy the situation, he gave up. "F--- it. I don't like this song anyway," he said moving on to his cover of the 'Saturday Night Live' Christmas song 'I Wish It Was Christmas Today.'

"One in 10 people don't like this song," he said, prefacing the penultimate 'Tourist,' but he wanted to play it for the ones who did like it. Once again, he walked offstage, but this time he returned to the uproarious crowd chanting his name. He ended the night on the gospel-tinged '4 Chords of the Apocalypse,' shook some more hands and professed his love for a crowd that will anticipate his and the rest of the Strokes' August appearance.