Dan O'Connell At The "Secret" Strokes Gig
Xfm's man was down the front at Dingwalls... Read his report here.
The Strokes haven’t played in four years. Anywhere. So pacing through Camden to get to Dingwalls is exciting enough. Anticiption for any gig is standard, but it’s understandably off the scale tonight. The first two people through the door hug and scream and bolt for the front.
The manager from Dingwalls had been sworn to secrecy just 48 hours before the gig and gleefully says, “We had to chuck three people out of the toilet earlier. They’d been in the cubicle since 11am.” That’s dedication. Only weekend rockstars are desperate enough to stick out a cubicle three deep.
Coldplay appear. Jonny Buckland from the band gives his name on the door. “No mate. You’re the fifth person tonight to give that name.” Chris Martin interjects. “He IS in Coldplay.”
The band appear. Casablancas bounds on to the stage like a body double for 'The Terminator'. From the side of stage, grown men scream for Albert Hammond Jnr.
'New York City Cops', 'The Modern Age' and 'Hard to Explain' get torn apart. For a band who, allegedly, haven’t sound checked this is incredible.
The surge down the front is intense. Casablancas jokes that “there’s a dead guy”. It looked like there was a few, to be honest.
The band have point blank refused crowd barriers. So girls are being dragged on to the stage and out the venue as the heat becomes too much for some to handle.
They’re also quite clearly not sticking to the set list that some had said they’ve seen. 'Last Nite' peaks mid-set and the sing-along is on. The crowd keep chanting “Venison” and the band smile to themselves.
The band leave the stage and return for an encore, with 'Take It Or Leave It' wrapping things up. Casablancas hasn’t over-indulged us with chat. He didn’t have to. But he thanks everybody by saying, “It was wonderful to share this with you.”
Humble rockstars are always the best rockstars.
Tagged as Strokes, The, Live
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