The US band will not be playing Scotland on their upcoming tour, with fans having to travel down to Newcastle, Manchester or further afield.
The Strokes took to the stage and the lead singer declared he missed the Barrowland Ballroom to the TRNSMT crowd.(Image: Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns)
Fans of US Indie rockers The Strokes have blamed a Glasgow music festival crowd for the band missing out Scotland in their latest world tour.
The group have just unveiled dates for their ‘Reality Awaits’ world tour 2026, taking in Chicago, Tokyo, London Berlin and Barcelona, among other stops.
Scottish fans were quick to spot that there was no date up here, however, and some fans think the snub might be down to the band’s experience at TRNSMT festival.
The Strokes headlined day two of the festival in 2022, when it was held on Glasgow Green, and played to a crowd of roughly 50,000 people, with their hits-heavy set including classics like ‘Last Nite’, ‘Reptilia’ and ‘The Adults Are Talking’.
The performance was generally regarded as flat however, with many blaming a lacklustre crowd for failing to get the band going.
And now that the group have missed Scotland off their world tour, fans are again unhappy.
One fan simply posted “The Strokes not playing Glasgow. **** sake.”, while another said ”No Glasgow, worst tour ever.”
And one fan suggested there was one man to blame, posting: “Not doing a Glasgow gig because the TRNSMT crowd in 2022 was utter s****. Another thing to blame Geoff Ellis for.”
The band’s 2022 set was not without its problems, and as well as some technical difficulties, front man Julian Casablancas opened up their performance by telling the crowd he missed the Barrowland Ballroom.
He said: “I haven’t been to Glasgow in a long time. I don’t recognise the place.
“The Barrowlands where we used to play, I miss that place. I miss being pulled to shreds by the Glasgow crowd. It’s a fun place.
“My memories of Glasgow… always the most chaotic, violent shows of my life. This is a nice change of pace though. Next time, the Barrowlands.”
And some fans were also less than impressed with the crowd, with one posting on social media after the gig: “Dunno why I was expecting anything different but that TRNSMT crowd for The Strokes was proper sh***.”
A second agreed: “I think it’s always a problem with outdoor gigs with multiple acts. TRNSMT feels quite young as well. Perhaps it was just a minority that liked The Strokes. Maybe a Barrowlands’ worth.”
“It was almost like The Strokes would rather have been anywhere else but the main stage at TRNSMT”, a third added.
The band will be playing Newcastle and Manchester in October as part of the tour and tickets go on sale Friday at 10am.