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The Strokes at the Loft @EarthLink Live
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Strokes onstage are the aural equivalent of a rustic wooden puzzle box: tightly interlocking and sturdy but with loads of rough-hewn allure.
At the Loft @ Earthlink Live on Monday night, the band played a sharp hour-and-change set in front of sold-out room. The five New Yorkers could have filled a much larger place, but that was the point. It was an intimate gathering that assured a strong turnout of die-hard fans.
The Atlanta gig was the last of four small venue shows the band played in the U.S. to promote new album “First Impressions of Earth,� released Jan. 3. Before a full-scale American tour, the band is set for a month of dates in the U.K. and Ireland.
You might call the just-finished U.S. dates warm-ups, but the band was playing at full-boil Monday night.
The Strokes skimmed the cream from the new album and gave the fresh tracks a jolt of energy, with recent single “Juicebox� serving as the perfect opener. The bounce of “Razorblade,� a “First Impressions� highlights, tosses a little welcome rhythmic variety into the quintet’s repertoire.
It was the band’s earlier songs that got the crowd jumping. The ferocious chug of the band’s two-guitars-bass-and-drums formation reached full stomp on a healthy serving of tunes from the debut album, “Is This It?� Nikolai Fraiture’s bass, in particular, sounded as if it could punch holes in a brick wall at 100 paces on encores “New York City Cops� and “Take It Or Leave It.�
Scruffy cherub Julian Casablancas is an oddly charismatic frontman, mumbling appreciatively between songs and leaning heavily on the microphone stand. His distinctive voice goes from throaty growl to punky whine and back to a cool gray Lou Reed-like tone.
Though the show seemed short, it was actually the perfect length. The Strokes left us wanting more. We’ll just have to wait until spring for that.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Pop Music
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By Reptilia
January 10, 2006 8:09 AM | Link to this
Wow. What an amazing show. Glad to be a part of something special like that. Yeah, it was only an hour long, but it was THE STROKES at THE LOFT. The only negative had nothing to do with the band at all. Apparently, the management of The Loft has never heard of air conditioning.
By Blazer
January 10, 2006 10:28 AM | Link to this
THE SHOW ROCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE STROKES ARE SO FRIGGIN’ O-SOME. I AM GETTING A TATTOO OF JULIAN ON MY BACK AFTER WORK TODAY!!!!!!!! I WAS TOTALLY COPASETIC LAST NIGHT!!! I CAN”T STOP PLAYING AIR GUITAR!!!!! MY BOSS THINKS I’M CRAZY!!!!!!!!
By Reptilia
January 11, 2006 1:21 PM | Link to this
…or at least on drugs. Whoah. Take it down a notch, Blazer.