Some of their playing was a bit off, especially the tempo on one song (Amber theorizes that the lead singer was too inebriated to find the beat, so the band had to slow things up to get him back), but the atmosphere was fun. As an added bonus, The Strokes NEVER do encores. It's just something they don't believe in. ( I happen to agree. If you plan on doing an encore, then it's just part of the show. Encores should be spontaneous.) And last night, they broke that streak. After marveling at the size and excitement of the crowd (in a packed State Theater), they hinted they may come back afterwards, but left the stage without deciding. Still many people left after the lights were turned on. (The staff at the State were told there would be no encore.) A few minutes of raucous cheers later, they returned and brought the house down.
Julian proceeded to climb the speakers and then halfway up the stage wall (possibly on a built-in ladder) before security brought him down. A few speakers were overturned and mic stands broken. Good times.
This alone would have been a good night, but to top it off, I returned to speed through a TiVo'd Game 7 and saw Aaron Boone hit a walk-off series winning home run at 2:30 in the morning. All in all, it made me a zombie Friday - but it was definitely worth it.
