The Strokes Live In Singapore 2023
Sands Expo & Convention Centre
Wednesday
After more than two decades, American alternative rock stalwarts The Strokes finally performed their debut concert in Singapore.
The Grammy-winning New York quintet, formed in 1998, played to a 6,500-strong audience at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre on Wednesday.
Last week, they added a second concert in Singapore on Thursday to make up for their set in Malaysia that was cancelled.
They were scheduled to headline the third night of the Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur on July 23, but the Malaysian authorities pulled the plug on the entire event.
This happened after Matty Healy, singer of British pop-rock band The 1975, slammed the government for its anti-LGBTQ laws onstage and kissed a male bandmate during the group’s July 21 set.
Here are three highlights from The Strokes’ sold-out gig, which lasted a little over 80 minutes.
1. Singer Julian Casablancas’ onstage banter
Frontman Julian Casablancas, sporting his trademark sunglasses and neon fingerless glove, was in a chatty mood and engaged in plenty of banter in between songs.
He referenced a Star Wars Internet meme several times during the set, turning it into a running gag. “Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise?” he asked the audience.
The rest of the band – guitarists Albert Hammond Jr and Nick Valensi, bassist Nikolai Fraiture and drummer Fabrizio Moretti – would indulge him and break into impromptu jams as Casablancas ad-libbed lyrics based on the joke.
It would become a new song, the singer announced.
At one point, he warned the crowd that he was going to say something controversial – probably a snide reference to The 1975 fiasco in Malaysia – before making a commentary about the joys of bidets in men’s toilets.
The band would later play Meet Me In The Bathroom, a song from their sophomore album Room On Fire (2003).
2. The audience’s massive sing-along
Casablancas seemed genuinely and pleasantly surprised at the audience participation. The fans were especially loud on tunes from earlier albums, such as Last Nite and Someday from 2001 debut album Is This It.
“You guys are just the best crowd, surprise, surprise,” he quipped towards the end of the concert. “You guys sing so nice, thank you.”
The audience also showed love to rowdy opening act Promiseland, a New York-based Australian singer-musician whose music traverses genres such as industrial, synthpop and punk.
He is signed to Cult Records, a record label and online store founded by Casablancas, who later gave Promiseland a shout-out during The Strokes’ set.
The singer said: “I know Singapore is not part of Malaysia, but he’s half-Malay.”
3. Tight musicianship
The band played Call It Fate, Call It Karma, a track from 2013 album Comedown Machine that they rarely perform live. The rendition of the loungey song was a little sloppy and seemed more like a loose jam.
However, their musicianship was in top form for the rest of the show – Moretti and Fraiture kept the rhythm section solid throughout the night while the twin guitar interplays between Hammond Jr and Valensi were a joy to behold live.
