If you want to go to a rock show and be home in time to watch Leno (wait… what time is Leno on?!) Julian Casablancas is your man.
The Strokes frontman, 31 year-old Julian Casablancas, dropped by the 9:30 club last night (Tues) to play his entire first first solo LP, ‘Phrazes for the Young’ to a sold-out show consisting mainly of mid-twenties Baltimorians. The entire LP (including the bonus track) is a only 43 minutes long and even by throwing in a new song and a Strokes cover (I’ll Try Anything Once) the show was over by 10:30pm.
Despite the brevity, however, Casablancas was able to bring his cigarette-raspy, super-sexy and unmistakable Strokes voice to the legendary club along with his new-found 70’s analog synth sound. When writing for The Strokes, Casablancas has mentioned that he’s always written songs first on the keyboard then translated these into guitar tunes whereas with ‘Phrazes’, it seems he never made it to the guitar (which, by no means, is a bad thing).
Julian was quite the funny-man, cracking jokes and singing improvised DC jingles while his drummers kick-drum was fixed. Mr. C even jumped into the crowd several times to the delight of many a young professional who got to touch the legendary icon. The show, although super short, was fantastic indeed.
As you probably know, the Strokes album “Is This It” was named the number one album of the entire decade by NME magazine! Quite the achievement. Although the band has not officially broken up they have been ‘on-hiatus’ since their third album, ‘First Impressions of Earth’ in 2006. Based on several interviews it seems the possibility of a fourth album remains…
Apparently Julian was rockin a way-cool 80’s-esque leather jacket too… but unfortunately I was too fricken short to see!
Julian Casablancas – Out of the Blue (Mp3)
Julian Casablancas – 30 Minute Boyfriend (Bonus Track) (Mp3)
Dangermouse and Sparklehorse (feat. J. Casablancas) – Little Girl (Mp3)
Courtney Love – But Julian, I’m a Little Older Than You (Mp3)
1 comment:
"OH-EM-GEE! I TOUCHED JULIAN!" -best impression of a pre-teen girl I got. Haha. Jokes aside, it WAS a very awesome experience to actually have the artist come into the audience and literally sing face-to-face to me(I have the pic to prove it! Nicole's seen it!). As far as the leather jacket, it was more like a full-on leather suit. Terminator 2 style.
It was a nice wham-bam-heres-your-synth-heavy-pop-rock-now-get-the-hell-out-thank-you-ma'am kinda show. After the opening song, there was some technically difficulty with a bass drum which lead to some pretty entertaining Casablancas stage banter. While Julian's band of hogbodge members(including a foxy percussionist) didn't really seem to interact with one another, they did what they were supposed to do. They supported Mr. Casablancas with zero fuck-ups. Very tight. Very short. Very fun.
I think the openers for that night(Tan Lines) warrant a mention as well. Not for being particularly good, but for the first time in my life making me believe I was in The Matrix's "Zion orgy dance sequence." The Brooklyn duo armed mainly with guitbox, drumsticks, and laptop(yep, a laptop) brought what they could. That is to say, one dance heavy, tribal-influenced beat slightly altered into several songs. I won't lie. I really don't even recall how many songs they played, which I can probably attribute to a mere 5-second break between songs filled with, "Here's another song." Not exactly what I would call a fitting match with Casablancas' style. But hey, at least you could dance(read: bob head) to it.
It was a very fun night. And I'm glad that I made the last minute decision to get on down to the 9:30 Club that night. If I'm not mistaken, I believe The Strokes have festival dates lined up for later this year. Just something for some to look forward to.
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