The Strokes at Hyde Park. 18/06/15

The Strokes at Hyde Park.
 A night of euphoria and the end of a long wait for many.

 Nearly 5 years had passed since The Strokes played their last show on British soil at Reading and Leeds in 2011 and with their absence of live shows and a disappointing fifth LP ‘Comedown Machine’ it was clear they weren’t the trailblazers they were at the turn of the century. Nonetheless when the chance to finally see The Strokes came about heads were turned and people were (quite rightly) excited.

With rumours of this being the final show for the New York 5 piece the excitement only grew with the thought of this British Summer time date being in fact ‘it’ which could later transcend into an ‘I was there moment’ and setlist certainly does seem fitting of a final ever show as well as having a ‘greatest hits’ feel about it with the indie pioneers churning out classic after classic. Opening with the eponymous song from their debut album ‘Is This It’ sparked mass cheers from the diverse crowd. Next powering into Barely Legal from the same album which caused what could on be described as a ‘mild ruckus’ before Comedown Machine’s ‘Welcome to Japan’ mellowed the crowd.

Soon after the first of the real big hits came out and it was Someday  which the crowd responded with every word of the chorus being belted out in such a euphoric manner which brought tears to eyes, and not just for sentimental reasons but because The Strokes were fucking fantastic. As someday ended there was not a moment’s pause until Albert Hammond Jr erupted into Heart in a Cage in this one song the entire energy of the gig was encapsulated as Juilian Casablancas crooned about fighting through the crowd at a concert accompanied by a simultaneous surge.

The debut heavily influenced the setlist and with ‘Hard to Explain’ up next everything seemed to really step up a gear with the crowd getting into full swing with the awe, for many, of finally seeing The Strokes wearing off. Shortly after the moment everyone had been waited for came about, Last Nite. The Strokes landmark song again off their sublime sounding debut album and what is essentially a raw love song caused the crowd into  what can be best described as violent elation but without the violence. As the track descended into its subdued finish the 50,000 people in the crowd continued to jig until the very last chord.

After setting off into the iconic riff of Reptillia, during which I was staggered how they managed to retain such a cool aura about them, as the crowd howled the lyrics ‘he seemed impressed by the way you came in’ where there was no one I could see who hadn’t proceeded to lose their shit. The more groovy tone of macchu picchu and then what I consider to be the ultimate pop song, ‘under the cover of darkness’, both from ‘angles’ followed. Fan favourite New York City cops ended the main bulk of the set where I don’t think there was a single member of the crowd who hadn’t adopted a New Yorker’s accent for the chorus.

The encore really was the stuff of dreams, the pounding bassline of ‘Juicebox’ kicked off affairs to mark their return to the stage. The song which precedes it on ‘first impressions of the earth’, ‘You only live once’, followed as the encore’s second track. The final song of the evening ‘take it or leave it; the album closer of ‘is this it’ was a seemingly a fitting way to end their first show in the capital for over 5 years and its importance signified by starting with the debut’s opener and ending with its final track. The song itself executed to perfection, an apt way to end such an iconic night - And if this really is ‘it’ for The Strokes, my god, they have bowed out in some style. 

By Joe Daniel