What to know
- The Strokes played a sold-out show at RBC Amphitheatre on Sunday night.
- Frontman Julian Casablancas referred to Toronto as “Alt New York” during the performance.
- The comment was met with audible boos from parts of the crowd.
- Later in the show, Casablancas appeared to walk back the remark, saying Toronto is “its own place” and has “its own vibe.”
- The concert drew roughly 16,000 fans and featured songs spanning the band’s 25-year career.
The Strokes frontman and full-fledged New Yorker Julian Casablancas never talks a lot on stage, kind of mumbles and muses under his trademark sunglasses.
At last nite’s sold-out show at RBC Amphitheatre, he said little: wished everyone a Happy Father’s Day, joked that he was ready to start an Olivia Newton-John song, and strangely quipped that “this venue wasn’t designed for music.” But, it was something he said off the cuff a few songs into the 100-minute set, that irked us nice Canadians:
“Here we are, Toronto, Alt. New York, as they say.”
Um, who is “they,” exactly?
He didn’t mean it meanly and certainly not in the belittling way Trump calls Canada “the 51st State,” but the backhanded compliment was met with immediate boos from a selection of the 16,000-strong crowd. They were brief, but loud enough to cut through.
The reaction didn’t last long. Mere seconds. It was just to let Casablancas know that, although we love him, love the Strokes, and their catchy indie-rock brilliance, we ain’t gonna put up with being compared to the US — even if it is to one of the greatest cities in the world. Maybe in two years and seven months we’ll be less sensitive.
Seemingly weighing on his mind through “Juicebox,” and “Someday,” just before playing the new song “Going Shopping,” Casablancas repaired the blunder by saying, “Toronto is its own place” and “Toronto has its own vibe.” It would’ve been funnier if he said it as a preamble to the next song, “Bad Decisions.”
Despite the remark, the connection between band and audience was unbroken. For more than 25 years, The Strokes have sustained a career and their own sound built on tight, garage-leaning rock and Casablancas’ detached, weary vocal style. From their 2001 breakthrough Is This It, featuring “Last Nite,” “Hard to Explain,” and “Take It or Leave It,” to their six-album catalogue, they’ve remained a consistent reference point in indie rock.
Many in the audience were half the band’s age. Casablancas, guitarists Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture and drummer Fabrizio Moretti are all in their late 40s. Guitarist Steve Schiltz (in his 50s) is currently filling in for Nick Valensi, who is on a “temporary break.” A large portion of the crowd likely discovered the band through their parents, games like Guitar Hero, and streaming playlists, where tracks like “Reptilia” and “Last Nite” remain staples.
The set drew heavily from across their discography. From 2006’s First Impressions of Earth, they played “Juicebox,” “You Only Live Once,” and the night’s openers, “Ize of the World” and “Killing Lies.” From 2020’s The New Abnormal—which won the Grammy for rock album of the year—they included “The Adults Are Talking,” “Selfless,” “Bad Decisions,” and “Ode to the Mets.”
And, from the forthcoming album, Reality Awaits — which has been pushed back a month to July 26 — the Strokes played the two singles released so far, “Going Shopping” and “Falling Out of Love,” the latter marked by falsetto and vocoder effects that have already sparked debate among fans online.
Despite long gaps between releases and only six albums to date, The Strokes continue to draw large, multigenerational crowds. Seeing 16,000 people fill the lakeside venue with no tickets available by showtime underscored their lasting appeal—and the continued appetite for the kind of guitar-driven rock they helped define.
