The Strokes were hailed and hyped when they broke out in 01. I don’t know how much of an impact they’ve had on culture, but I don’t think it has trickeled down to where I see Strokes influenced kids playing on flatbed trucks in Barrington. It’s only a matter of time before this starts happening, because the Strokes were great on Friday. Their long overdue 2nd album isn’t out until next month, but my chemically influenced review gives the new material two thumbs up. By “chemically influenced”, I mean my thoughts were sponsored by Yuengling and by “two thumbs up” I mean my $12.99 + tax will be paid in full when it comes out. They told everyone ahead of time there wasn’t going to be an encore and they were telling the truth. Rehearsed encores are lame and I’m glad to see some bands refusing to do them. If you need a break, take a break. Don’t pretend you’re done and then come back out unless the people are seriously about to tear the place apart unless you do.
The Tower Theatre is a cool place for a show, but we were seated underneath the balcony and I think that may have affected the sound quality. It still sounded good, though.
The Kings of Leon filled the opening slot and disappointed. I heard good things about them, but I couldn’t get into their repetitive songs. With all their unironic odes to 70s rock somehow they forgot about rocking.
Comments
4 responses to “The Strokes @ The Tower Theatre”
Hey Ben,
The Strokes were awesome friday night, and my roommate, Lauren, said that you guys were very cool people. Flatbed trucks in Barrington…what better way to spend a Saturday morning than walking up and down a street looking at hand-made crafts while listening to kids try and cover Dashboard Confessional songs. Anyway, Thanks for playing requests at Kevin’s, see you all soon.
Jeanne and I were eating lunch at Vito’s and we saw you walk by. I figured we’d run into you again later but we never did. To be honest, the bands they had weren’t too bad. I’ve heard much, much worse. My friend Jason played outside the Barrington Coffee House at about 12:30, so we hung out there most of the time.
Ben,
I saw at the TLA the Strokes in ’01, when the first buzz was spreading. We scammed free tickets when we saw some radio people eating at The Latest Dish the night of the show. As I recall, we celebrated the score with Yuengling as well, rather than checking out the 2 opening bands. When the Strokes came out, I just remember jumping up and down for the next 90 minutes straight. One of the wildest times I’ve hads in years. Their appeal is hard to pin down, but the music and vibe they put out sure is infectious, especially when “chemically influenced”.
John S
My only complaint is that they hardly stray from the CD versions of the songs at all!