The Strokes @ HordernPavilion, Sydney (29/7/2010)

Sun 1st Aug, 2010 in Gig Reviews

When The Strokes emerged almost a decade ago, they quickly became a musical turning point for teens worldwide. With incredible pop songs, heart-throb good looks and effortless New York cool, they introduced legions of pop fans to rock and roll.

So it’s hardly surprising that expectations are at fever pitch. The Strokes are everybody’s special band tonight, and a fair chunk of the sold-out audience are already camped in front of the stage before Gypsy and the Cat take the stage.

Gypsy and the Cat have a big push behind them, and it’s not hard to see why. Originally hailing from Melbourne, they’ve been in London refining their sound and recording an album with production heavyweights Dave Fridmann and Rich Costey. But despite their carefully-crafted aesthetic, expensive gear and well-rehearsed performance, it’s frustratingly, if not painfully boring.

They appropriate 70s yacht rock through the lens of more modern, synth-heavy pop without a hint of irony, leaving us with a handful of utterly forgettable mid-tempo tracks that cobble together the most grating elements of MGMT, The Killers and Empire of the Sun. Lyrically it doesn’t get any better, with over-earnest verses that ride cliches to the point of self-parody, not to mention forced rhymes that elicit sniggers throughout the burgeoning audience. With a sound that borrows from several new, successful bands, it’s not hard to see why they’re being pushed as a “next big thing”. It’s just a shame for eager Strokes fans that they were on the receiving end.

The Like, on the other hand, aren’t so bad. An all-girl four-piece from LA, they find a satisfying middle ground between the slick garage rock of tonight’s headliners and girl groups like The Shangri-Las and The Ronettes. Their set certainly doesn’t do anything particularly new, but the band’s enthusiasm was well-matched with their energetic pop songs. That said, there doesn’t seem to be much depth to their sound, and after a while the set starts to drag. The Like may not be particularly bad, but they’re not particularly great either, and there’s plenty of other bands who do it better. Luckily, the closing handful of songs are the set highlights, ending it on a good note.

The Strokes are fresh out of a hiatus at the moment, and that’s often a good time to see a band. They’re often re-invigorated, and far enough away from both previous and upcoming albums to offer a crowd pleasing greatest-hits set. And that’s exactly how they played.

They came out onstage to an erupting, sold-out Hordern Pavilion, and only heightened the excitement by opening with an Is This It? triple-hit of New York City Cops, The Modern Age and Hard To Explain. Their time away from the stage hasn’t diminished their live power at all, and they maintained a frenetic pace throughout the set, never letting the energy die down. As a result, they didn’t spend much time engaging with the audience, but this isn’t particularly a bad thing – mystery and effortless cool have always been an important currency for the band, and their set had nonchalant rockstar swagger in spades.

The set continued with a barrage of hits, with the place going ballistic to every single song. And then, after just fourty minutes, singer Julian Casablancas thanked the crowd and they walked off-stage. It was an unexpectedly short set, but they provided some appeasement with a five-song encore. Everyone still wanted more, but that was probably inevitable regardless of set length. Nonetheless, they still seemed to leave happy, and so they should – The Strokes delivered a sharp, exciting and succinct performance.

Check out the photos from the gig