Photos by Shriya SamavaiLast night, the Strokes took the main stage at Governors Ball. They weren't the evening's headliners—those two slots were reserved for Jack White's traveling antique carnival show and Skrillex (to make sure everyone justified the drugs they took)—so the great New York City rock band hit the stage around 7 PM, just as dusk set in. Julian Casablancas wore a Hawaiian-esque T-shirt. Albert Hammond, Jr. wore a white T-shirt with rolled up sleeves. I was wearing boat shoes. And when they started, everyone in the crowd absolutely lost their sh*t. Advertisem*nt Advertisem*nt
I was never cool enough to wear a leather jacket in high school. I always wanted to be. I loved the idea of wearing a leather jacket and tight jeans with holes in them and having long hair and being just the right amount of greasy. But I could never pull it off. I wore pastel-colored polos and badly cut jeans and funny-looking shoes. I lived in a small town in Western Iowa. I didn't know what it felt like to stand in a back alley in New York City and smoke a cigarette. I didn't know what it felt like to share that cigarette with a beautiful woman wearing heels and red lipstick. I didn't know what it felt like to flick that cigarette in the direction of a police officer and then go inside with the beautiful woman and listen to a rock band perform an anthem about how dumb cops are. But I could imagine it. I looked at this world through a lens—and that lens came through the speakers of the sh*tty car I drove around when I was a teenager.Despite the heaping pile of bullsh*t surrounding this band—whether it's rumors of them not recording their newest album Comedown Machine together or doing separate interviews with music publications because they can't stand to be in the same room together—when they played "Reptilia," or "Barely Legal," or "One Way Trigger," or "The End Has No End," or "You Only Live Once," "Welcome to Japan," or "Last Nite," or any of the 18 songs on the Governors Ball setlist, no one gave a sh*t about what it all means or if we'll have the Strokes in our lives much longer. We just danced. We just sang. We just remembered what our lives were like when we first heard the bizarrely beautiful muffled chord progressions of "Is This It." I didn't stick around after the set. Instead, I left the festival, put my headphones on, cued up Is This It, and walked across the bridge, watching the sunlight fade over the Manhattan skyline. Advertisem*nt
Welcome to Japan
Automatic Stop
Machu Picchu
Reptilia
Razorblade
Take It or Leave It
One Way Trigger
Under Control
Heart in a Cage
Hard to Explain
12:51
Someday
Happy Ending
The End Has No End
You Only Live Once
Last NiteEncore:
New York City Cops
Eric Sundermann just lied to get to your apartment. He's on Twitter — @ericsundy--Want more sweet shows? Check these out:Everything's Not Lost: Growing up with Coldplay at the Beacon TheaterA Decade Under the Influence: On Seeing Taking Back Sunday at 26Chromeo's Normal-Ass Triumph Takes The Stage
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