The Strokes are returning to San Francisco — wonderful news for anyone nostalgic for post-9/11 Lower East Side, including millennials who only lived through it vicariously on Tumblr (e.g., me), and the Gen Z’ers currently reminiscing over their parents’ “indie sleaze” eras.
The band, known for their tightly-wound garage rock sound and jaded, seen-it-all lyricism, is coming to Bill Graham Civic Auditorium for an all-ages show April 6, shortly before they join fellow indie rockers Justin Bieber and Sabrina Carpenter at Coachella. Aussie musician Alex Cameron will be opening.
The last time the Strokes performed in San Francisco was *checks notes* October 2021 at Outside Lands. And, well, it was not their best show: They were late, cut their set early, and notoriously gruff frontman Julian Casablancas kept on griping about San Francisco’s Covid restrictions. He also meowed through “You Only Live Once.” Classic rock band shit.
The Strokes’ return is still exciting, though, especially for aging Xers who can manage to get a sitter. Room on Fire and Is This It remain near-perfect 21st century rock albums, and even their hit-or-miss discography after that contains a few stabs at greatness. (You may also be surprised to know that their 2020 album The New Abnormal is probably their most streamed, which you can chalk up to at least two singles from it being TikTok-big.)
They’re prepping for a festival circuit this year, which includes the recently-announced Shaky Knees in Atlanta and Summer Sonic in Japan. Tickets for the Bill Graham show go on sale Friday. While we wait, I’ll be queuing up their Letterman performance from 24 years ago.
