The Strokes live in Manchester: A band sounding more vital than ever
The indie veterans are very much up for the fight as they deliver a deeply emotional career-spanning set during their first visit to the city in two decades.
“Manchester, I can’t see you because I’m wearing sunglasses but you all sound great,” beams a playful Julian Casablancas as he surveys a vast, sold-out Manchester’s Co-op Live.
We’re early into the night and after a minor mishap with his microphone, Casablancas is making small-talk with the 22,000 strong crowd about the all important details. “I’d get a cordless but it doesn’t look very cool does it? Let’s be honest it looks terrible, I’m a vain bitch sorry!”
The unmistakable frontman is very much braced for the Manchester weather in his signature shades and black trench coat. As it happens on this unusually mild and rainless night though, the only elements he needs to worry about are many pints gleefully arching their way across the crowd as they tear into a career-spanning set.
Whatever the wardrobe, Casablancas cuts the figure of a man relishing the spotlight once again. There’s a business-like aura about proceedings from the off as he stalks the stage to the fuzzed up intro of ‘Lonely in the Future’ from the latest album ‘Reality Awaits’, angstily stomping on monitors as he delivers the sweetened lines like his life might depend on them.
It’s a fine introduction for a new generation of fans getting to see the indie veterans live for the first time tonight. It’s The Strokes’ first show in the city since 2006 and in the interests of making up for lost time, they dispatch a healthy dose of big-hitters like ‘Hard To Explain’, ‘Soma’ and ‘Take It Or Leave It’ which all spark Monday-night-defying delirium.
The timeless feel to the setlist is only enhanced by the strobing eighties sci-fi stage set, which feels fitting for a band who have constantly beamed themselves into the future with a sense of warmth and nostalgia. One testament to that comes with the huge response to 2020’s ‘The Adults Are Talking’ as Albert Hammond Jr.’s spiralling guitars spark mass singalongs.
The Strokes have a masterful touch when it comes to light and shade. The monochrome ballad ‘Tyrants of the Mellow Moon’ comes as an unexpected and beautiful set highlight and only gives more weight to incendiary scuzzy anthems like ‘New York City Cops’.
“Let’s just fucking hit it,” says Casablancas as the band unleash the timeless riff of ‘Reptilia’ which is breathlessly followed by euphoric indie floor-filler ‘Someday’. As fathers lift kids onto their shoulders, it’s clear that a sense of youthful longing behind such epic anthems has transcended generations.
Having drawn criticism online after their set was brought to an abrupt end the night prior in Newcastle, the band address the elephant in the room with a knowing wink as bassist Nikolai Fraiture introduces ‘deep cut’ ‘Last Nite’. “What the fuck is up, Manchester! This is the biggest show we’ve played on this tour, do you want an encore? This is our last song, wink wink and you might know it.”
The biggest testament to the band is that the double blow of ‘Ode To The Mets’ and ‘Selfless’ surpasses even those debut album songs that put the band on the map nearly three decades ago. Casablancas clearly knows it too as he declares ‘serious business’ and shadowboxes his way through wafts of purple smoke before a gut-wrenching vocal delivery.
It’s been anything but an easy ride to the top for The Strokes, and it’s understandable that the earned crown of being one of the world’s coolest bands has weighed heavy at times throughout their career, but tonight, there’s a hunger and defiance that suggests everything has clicked again. After all these years, they’re sounding more vital and more needed than ever before.