In what some say was easily the most anxiously anticipated rock concert of the season, The Strokes brought big-money production and dirty-street credibility to the Newport Music Hall Saturday night.
An energetic crowd greeted opener the Mates of State, and was surprisingly generous with its applause. While the drum-and-organ duo played an excellent set – including a heart-wrenching cover of Nico’s “These Days” – their unique sound could not have been what the audience expected to warm up The Strokes.
The Mates of State are a married couple, and their affection was apparent on-stage as they gazed across their instruments at one another during sets.
Taking the stage relatively promptly, The Strokes appropriately opened with the song that first propelled them to super-stardom – “The Modern Age.” In early 2001 the band found itself the center of an industry buzz around its release of a three song demo entitled “The Modern Age.” The disk earned the band an enormous bidding war among record labels which RCA won.
Since then, The Strokes have released two tremendously popular albums, and have headlined international tours in venues much larger than the Newport, making the band’s appearance there all the more magical. There was much speculation as to why The Strokes would choose such a small venue, nevertheless the crowd was appreciative.
Throughout the high energy set, the band played clean, precise music – as if a response to lead-singer Julian Casablancas’ sloppy singing and drunken verbosity. Running through all of their popular songs – including Casablancas’s personal favorite: “Last Nite” – The Strokes kept their fans on their feet for the entire show – people left happy.
However, the band betrayed its limited catalogue by quickly blowing through both full-length albums and turning to covers more as space-filler than as necessity.
The Strokes paid tribute to their first large-scale touring partners, Dayton’s Guided By Voices with a cover of “Salty Salutes and Clampdown,” and one of their philosophical – if not musical – influences, The Clash, with a blistering cover of “Clash City Rockers.” Fooling around between songs, the duel – and often superfluous – guitarists traded Pearl Jam and Rolling Stones licks.
An excellent opener sweetened the deal, and while Casablancas’ unintelligible rants were occasionally obnoxious, they made for some between song entertainment. The concert was excellent throughout and the crowd response more than compensated for a miscalibrated sound system that left the vocals sounding tinny, but made the guitars roar.
