The Strokes at All Points East 2019: Garage rock legends romp through hits with nostalgia-fest
The Strokes performing New York City Cops at All Points East 2019. Picture: Sam Gelder - Credit: Archant
As soon as The Strokes swaggered on stage and burst into Heart in a Cage it was clear they weren’t messing around.
The New York garage rock icons have always been as direct on stage as they are on record, and Saturday night was no different.
Donning a silky black shirt, frontman Julian Casablancas was as blasé as ever for the band's first UK show since 2015, offering even less chat than usual. But why bother when you can simply give the crowd the nostalgia-fest they've come for?
The on-off band looked to be enjoying themselves too as they blitzed through their set with a hit parade that didn't concern itself with anything beyond First Impressions of Earth. The divisive third album got a healthier showing than usual with six songs, including a rare outing for underrated album track Razorblade.
All the classics from Is This It? and Room on Fire were played, with perhaps the only other slight surprises being outings for What Ever Happened, Under Control and I Can't Win - three fan favourites from their 2003 sophmore record.
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So focused were the band that they didn't notice the heckles and boos aimed at the sound desk. Following the show some fans have demanded refunds, complaining that they couldn't hear due to the poor sound quality.
That's a real shame, because from where we were stood it was fine, with a bigger problem being the lack of interest from the small pockets of pissed up lads who had to wait over an hour to hear closer Last Nite and decided to whip up a volatile atmosphere in the meantime.
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Sadly bands like The Strokes are always going to attract men like this, but for the most part the crowd was in good spirits, singing along to the hits that soundtracked their teenage years.
For those of us that could hear it was a night to remember. For the sake of those who couldn't, let's hope it's not another four-year wait till the next time.
4/5 due to the problems with the sound
