Julian Casablancas Live in Los Angeles
I'm still recuperating from my recent trip to Los Angeles but wanted
to make sure and write a review of Julian Casablancas's show at the Palace
Theatre last Friday night. I was lucky enough to catch what was his first show of a
month-long residency at the downtown venue. If you live in LA or plan on traveling there this month, don't miss your opportunity to catch one of these shows.
First things first, I was blown away by the stage. Aside from just
being happy to see Julian on-stage doing his thing, it was great to see
him carrying out a vision of what he's put down on record. The show
featured rotating backdrops, a kaleidoscope of lights as well as some
spiffy white suits that had lights wired into them. As my friend
Robert pointed out, there was also a wonderful dichotomy between the
aging venue in need of some repairs (which is a replica of a Renaissance-era
Florentine palace) and the supremely modern
music and electronic goings-on taking place on stage.
Another thing that struck me and my friends was how much Julian
talked during the show. When fronting the Strokes, he usually keeps
his stage banter to a minimum or at least that's how I remember it. Maybe he's not entirely comfortable being the only one speaking his mind when their are four other guys on stage with him as part of the same unit. As a solo artist, however, he seemed more
than willing to talk with the crowd and present a picture of who he is
or what he was thinking. He was nothing if not extremely gracious and
from the reaction of the crowd, the feeling was mutual. The crowd also
went nuts when Albert and Fab showed up in the balcony to watch the show. The two posed for what seemed like an endless stream of
picture requests before settling in. A few other members of the Strokes entourage along with Devendra
Banhart (sans beard) and his crew were also in attendance.
As for the music, I love the new record and I think I love it live even more. For one thing, it was LOUD!!! Julian's backing band is extremely tight and absolutely killed it despite Julian's repeated attempts to remind the crowd that they had been (and still are) practicing a lot. Sometimes, I find bands that have a significant electronic element in their music come across sounding thin or the music falls flat. That's certainly not the case here. The soulful "4 Chords of the Apocolypse," along with "Tourist" and "Left & Right In The Dark" were probably the highlights for me. It was also nice to hear the B-Sides "Old Hollywood" (very fitting given the setting) and "30 Minute Boyfriend".
As I said earlier, it's obvious that Julian has a very clear vision of what this record and the presentation of it should be and he's carrying it out. He also appears to be taking on the role of solo artist very nicely. He seemed to be having a great time on stage. He was smiling and laughing throughout the show. Something you don't always see during the somewhat more serious Strokes performances. One of the greatest moments was when he announced he was going to do a cover song. The song was the Strokes B-Side "I'll Try Anything Once" and while not necessarily the most technically proficient performance of the evening, it brought smiles and cheers from the crowd including the members of the Strokes in attendance.
Regardless of where you stand on the Strokes, they have put out a lot of great music both as a band and via their individual solo projects. With Julian's effort and the live show I saw, it's clear that just like the other solo projects we've seen from the Strokes, Julian is a superbly talented musician and can clearly stand on his own. That being said, I hope the guys hurry up and put out that next Strokes record!!!
