I Hugged Julian Casablancas and Now My Toe Hurts

Thursday night saw the return of The Strokes to Brisbane. It was a great show even if it was in the worst venue in town. I mean the cavernous Brisbane Entertainment Centre, which looks like a giant roller-skating rink, and The Strokes just doesn't go, sorry. OH how we do miss festival hall! But with no mid-sized venue in Brisbane you gotta take what you can get.

The BEC is so big that the people in the back seats are about 100 meters away from the stage...and there are two general admission areas with a great divide so that half the audience is separated from those up the front. Even the band seemed to think the venue was ordinary, as Julian introduced one of their newer songs, 'vision of division' saying it was a bit representative of the crowd there. I have to say that song sounded particularly good and the way it ends, it seriously just stops dead, translates powerfully live.

I've seen the Strokes a few times now and they have always been inhumanly tight. Thursday was no exception opening with a blistering rendition of 'Juicebox', then launching straight into the tension of 'Heart in a Cage'. While there new stuff is all tension and fancy arrangements, it was their old stuff which got the best crowd reaction. They are such easy songs to sing and dance to, like a maniac.

But by far the highlight of the evening was when Julian jumped down into the crowd to sing the final songs of the encore. Everyone fell all over themselves trying to grab a piece of him, it was hilarious, exciting and pathetic all at once. The weird thing is the boys were so much worse than the girls. I have to admit I am no exception, I totally ran after him. I just figured, 'bugger it, he's right there. I'm too old for this but I'm going to anyway'. And I was off.

He sang a whole song about 1 metre away from me. I'm such a dork, I didn't really know what to do with myself when I got to him. So, I just sort of danced and sang and felt weird and awkward. I was nowhere near as good as one dude (yes, boy) who grabbed him by the ears and tried to kiss him repeatedly. It was hysterical. Well done you whoever you are. Weirdo!

As Jules was making his way through the crowd of over-excited fans, he announced he was 'trying to get all the way to the back'. He managed to stretch the mic cord far enough to make it through the crowd and up the first set of stairs to the seated section. All the time people were grabbing him and hugging him and even pulling his hair. Amazingly he did not miss a beat of 'New York City Cops' and closer 'Take it or leave it'. They still sounded great.

The pairing of Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jnr has to be one of the best going around these days. I know people like to tear down this band, but when you see them live their is no denying the dudes can play! My friend, Anna, who is not the worlds biggest Strokes fan by any means, just kept saying "holy shit. They are so talented" after every song. The guitarists are the most captivating to watch too...Valensi is so nonchalant about doing an incredible solo and Hammond plays that high-slung guitar of his with such gusto, I was concerned his arm might fall off.

Speaking of Albert have you read about his new Solo Project

So my advice is Haters Beware....The Strokes are still a great band and seeing them live makes for one fun Thursday night out. Even if my toe does hurt a lot now!


On to Saturday and those Monkeys....