{"id":712083,"date":"2026-06-18T19:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T19:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/712083\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T19:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T19:40:09","slug":"review-the-strokes-in-prime-form-as-the-rockers-bring-reality-awaits-tour-to-united-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/712083\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Strokes in prime form as the rockers bring \u2018Reality Awaits\u2019 tour to United Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Strokes and Nancy Pelosi walk into the same hotel. It sounds like it could be a setup for a joke, but it was the situation the New York rockers found themselves in \u201cLast Nite\u201d as singer Julian Casablancas explained to the crowd Wednesday night at United Center. It was likely just one of the many random crossed paths in Chicago this week as celebrities and dignitaries converge for the opening of the Obama Presidential Center and others go about regular business.<\/p>\n

For The Strokes, it was bringing the \u201cReality Awaits\u201d Tour to town, celebrating the quintet\u2019s first new album in six years, out July 24, but also unofficially celebrating 25 years since the 2001 debut \u201cIs This It\u201d that crowned them demigods of the indie rock scene. They didn\u2019t show their age Wednesday night as they tore deep into their catalog \u2014 choosing 19 excellent cuts across 100 minutes \u2014 with the bottled-up vigor of the teens and young adults who formed the group nearly three decades ago.<\/p>\n

The Strokes are fresh off an appearance at Bonnaroo and just kicked off the stadium tour Monday in Michigan so the band\u2019s tank is still full, coming in with a full throttle spirit and peak sound that was a step up from previous performances. The last time they were in Chicago was in 2024 for a benefit supporting 7th Congressional District candidate Kina Collins<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Strokes performs Wednesday at United Center.<\/p>\n

Kena Krutsinger\/United Center<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, flanked by neon stage lights, laser show special effects and lightning bolt-shaped props, Casablancas, guitarists Albert Hammond Jr. and Steve Schiltz (filling in for Nick Valensi), bassist Nikolai Fraiture and drummer Fabrizio Moretti were in their elemental prime on uber hits \u201cHard to Explain\u201d and \u201cThe Adults are Talking\u201d as well as more demure numbers like \u201cOde to the Mets\u201d and \u201cMeet Me in the Bathroom,\u201d the latter the shared name of the 2017 book and 2022 documentary exploring the early 2000s musical zeitgeist in New York. It was a time when bands like The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Interpol assembled post-9\/11 and redefined rock music; even today, bands like Geese and Chicago\u2019s own Brigitte Calls Me Baby<\/a> are examples of the reverent descendants.<\/p>\n

The Strokes, in particular, were heavy sonic architects of the time, finding the confluence of garage rock, synth pop and post-punk. Watching them eviscerate United Center with their proprietary blend felt akin to unearthing a well-preserved fossil from the era. The heavy guitar tones and breakneck speed on \u201cTake It Or Leave It\u201d were matched in fury by the opening riffs of \u201cWhat Ever Happened?\u201d while on \u201cJuicebox,\u201d Casablancas howled and barked like a wild banshee.<\/p>\n

It was one of the few moments when he broke from his typical aloof character, often dragging it out in his oddball stage banter. One minute he was waxing on about the Ozempic commercial jingle, another he was wondering about the choking hazards of guitar picks. In his deadpan humor, he told the crowd he\u2019d see them in hell. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to say common human greetings,\u201d he said, hiding behind his trademark shades.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Julian Casablancas of The Strokes performs Wednesday at United Center. <\/p>\n

Kena Krutsinger\/United Center<\/p>\n

There were a couple other faux pas moments, notably the introduction of new songs \u201cGoing Shopping\u201d and \u201cFalling Out of Love\u201d that have been criticized for the band\u2019s use of Auto-Tune. Performed live, the songs sounded a bit less robotic than the recorded versions but still the creative choice is a head-scratcher and an unnecessary accessory that hollows out Casablancas\u2019 voice. With his crooner capability, the use of Auto-Tune feels like a crutch for something that was never broken in the first place. Maybe there\u2019s still time to produce alt versions of the tracks \u2014 they\u2019ve announced \u201cReality Awaits\u201d has been pushed back a month from its original target date of June 26 without much explanation.<\/p>\n

It was a minor blip in an overall fertile night that came alive through reverent crowd interaction. Whether it was the en masse Charlie Brown dancing to \u201cSomeday\u201d or the group activity singalong of \u201cLast Nite,\u201d the packed house at the UC added depth to the show. By the end of the night, it resulted in one of the loudest bids for an encore in recent memory. It was deserved, and the band obliged with a final triplet of \u201cBad Decisions,\u201d \u201c12:51\u201d and \u201cThe Modern Age,\u201d the inaugural song that started The Strokes\u2019 journey. And it isn\u2019t over yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to seeing more of you in \u2026 I don\u2019t know,\u201d said Casablancas, leaving an open invitation for the future. \u201cWe\u2019ll try to keep playing music.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Strokes set list for June 17, 2026 show at United Center<\/p>\n

Killing Lies
Hard to Explain
Going Shopping
Juicebox
Someday
Ode to the Mets
Ize of the World
Take It or Leave It
Life Is Simple in the Moonlight
What Ever Happened?
One Way Trigger
Falling Out of Love
The Adults Are Talking
Last Nite
Meet Me in the Bathroom
Reptilia<\/p>\n

Encore:<\/p>\n

Bad Decisions
12:51
The Modern Age<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Strokes and Nancy Pelosi walk into the same hotel. It sounds like it could be a setup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":["post-712083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}