All of the problems with the South Florida music scene were minor on Tuesday January 22nd. That night, the Strokes rolled into town, touting their gospel of goodwill shirts, straight-up rock, and dazed glances. I wasn’t even planning on going, but when I got a phone call from a friend with extra tickets, I said what the hell.
The concert took place at a new venue called the Billboard Live on South Beach. But, back to the problem I mentioned before. South Florida is located in the bottom corner of the US, pretty much the farthest place to go for a touring act. Also, it harbors the port for every Latin artist trying to cross over to the States. That deadly combo leads to bad metal and Latin pop.
When the Strokes got to South Beach they put on a show that makes me want to believe music can still be cool. In an era of bald overweight bass players and Ibanez twirling metal guitar fakers, the Strokes offered the crowd something they haven’t heard in a while; a cool rock band.
They came out with beers in hand, cigarette butts in their guitar strings, and unkempt hairdos. It was as if we were all transported back in time to 1963 when all this was expected from a quartet of guys who say they play in a band.
The entire atmosphere seemed to gel with the persona of the Strokes too. The Billboard Live DJs pumped classic 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s guitar-influenced pop-rock like I’ve never heard before in a club atmosphere. And even before the Strokes went on, the club played almost the entire Michael Jackson “Bad” album.
But way before the Strokes came out, the two openers tried to steal the show. The first act was a one-man odyssey called Har Mar Superstar. This guy looked like the TV geek from Comedy Central’s Beat the Geeks, not only because he came out in a gown but because he was fat and had bad hair. He kept the crowd amused for awhile, but we all realized that after each song he removed another article of clothing, beer bottles began to be hurled on stage, the crowd wanted some rock.
The middle act was New York experimentalists Longwave. Every two seconds one of the members had to bend over to mess with their effects board so that every aspect of their computer generated sound was perfect. And after all this mess, the fat Geek and the band of computer guitarists, the Strokes finally saved the show.
Every song the Strokes unleashed was another homage to an era of cool. A kick back to the “we don’t care, we’re here to rock” attitude that a lot of people have forgotten.