The Strokes Concerts

The Strokes is an American rock band. They were formed in 1998 in New York City, New York. The founders and the only members to ever be part of the band are lead singer Julian Casablancas (born in 1978 in New York City, New York), guitarist Nick Valensi (1981, New York City, New York), drummer Fabrizio Moretti (1980, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), rhythm guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. (1980, Los Angeles, California), and bassist Nikolai Fraiture (1978, New York City, New York).

Casablancas, Valensi, and Moretti started playing music together casually while attending the same high school in Manhattan. After graduation, they were joined by Hammond and Fraiture. From that point on, they decided to form a band and take music seriously. They practiced day and night for almost a year before they did their first The Strokes concert in 1999. They soon became a local fixture in many Manhattan rock clubs.

In 2000, they were contacted by music producer Gordon Raphael after a The Strokes concert at the night club Luna Lounge. He helped them produce their demo tape, which was dubbed “The Modern Age EP” later. The newly founded British indie label Rough Trade Records bought the rights and published it in the UK. With its success overseas, The Strokes got approached by many American labels as well.

Their debut album, titled “Is This It”, came out in July 2001 through RCA Records and Rough Trade Records. It became a hit, peaking at the #33 spot on the Billboard 200 chart in the US, while doing even better in the UK, reaching the #2 spot on the OCC chart there. One of the tracks, “New York City Cops”, was removed from The Strokes setlist after the 9/11 attacks due to its derogatory lyrics toward NYC police. However, the band ended up performing them in some later live shows anyhow.

Since then, The Strokes has released 5 more studio albums, thus they have 6 in total. The best selling one among them has remained their first one, “Is This It”, which sold 2.5 million copies around the world. Meanwhile, the latest new The Strokes album is titled “The New Abnormal”, which came out in April 2020.

The Strokes’ biggest hits to date are “Last Nite” (2001), “Someday” (also 2001), “Reptilia” (2003), and “You Only Live Once” (2005) As we wrote above, the band’s line-up has remained unchanged since its formation in 1998.