It Happened Last Night | SPIN.com

Sex, Shrugs & Rock'n'Roll at Woodie Awards

Eric Nowels — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:44:05 -0600

In the opening moments of last night's mtvU Woodie Awards at NYC's Roseland Ballroom, a co-ed octet of Matt & Kim back-up singers slowly peeled away shirts, argyle socks and, finally, skinny jeans during a bombastic, arm-swinging performance of "Lessons Learned." The apparel was hurled with careless abandon into a packed crowd of hoodies and high heels until all that remained was a jiggling toe-tap of mismatched skivvies and Matt Johnson's low-drone keyboard fuzz.

Of course it was staged -- and predictably so, considering the track's blogged-about video, which followed the Brooklyn duo's naked slow-mo jog through Times Square -- but it worked, mainly because college kids love sex, or at the very least, the awkward pursuit of sex. And come on: The show's called "the Woodies."

PHOTOS:

The Dead Weather

Death Cab for Cutie

Photos by Brad Barket/Picture Group

That display of near-but-not-quite nudity -- it's MTV, after all -- set the evening's tone. For one, Matt & Kim's strip show won for best video. But besides that, sex was in the air.

The show-closing performance by the Dead Weather, the night's headlining band, offered the undulating Alison Mosshart, her hand cradling her crotch as she moaned through "Treat Me Like Your Mother."

Not everyone onstage was quite as forward. "I'm not prepared to take off my clothes," cooed indie pinup girl Zooey Deschanel, to swoons, before she crowned Never Shout Never's Christofer Ingle with the Breaking Woodie.

The hive-haired 18-year-old troubadour beat out Grizzly Bear and Passion Pit, among others, and his acceptance speech was a most welcome two-second expression of gratitude: "Power to the people," he mumbled, head down, in what resulted in one of the show's few collective laughs. Before he spit out the last syllable he was gone, and the crowd loved him for that reason alone.

But bogged down by penned-in parameters, frequent downtime (yes, just like TV, awards shows are burdened by commercial breaks -- even when it's not a live broadcast), and an abundance of booze, enthusiasm waned, particularly onstage.

Passion Pit's performance of "Little Secrets" and "The Reeling" lacked the excitement of the band's debut EP, which frontman Michael Angelakos crafted as a love letter. Falsetto intact, Angelakos bent this way and that, but constrained to a two-song set, the five-man band never really let loose.

The same could be said for Death Cab for Cutie. The group nailed "The Sound of Settling" and New Moon soundtrack single "Meet Me on the Equinox," yet couldn't force a smile.

Matters weren't helped by the absence of the night's two biggest winners.

Green Day accepted the Performing Woodie award with a pre-recorded speech.

And Kings of Leon were also missing at night's end, when Weeds star Mary-Louise Parker named them as the Woodie of the Year winner. "I'm so glad I came on last because you guys are so hammered you don't give a fuck what I say," Parker vamped.

On to the afterparty!

R. Kelly Wows His Hometown Chicago

Eric Nowels — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:34:06 -0600

Here’s a great problem to have: more hits than you could conceivably play in a 90-minute concert.

It sure beats R. Kelly’s other problems. Tuesday and Wednesday marked his first hometown concerts since being acquitted on child-pornography charges last year. He referred to that trouble only indirectly, preaching when he wasn’t singing that some people tried to keep him down, but he wouldn’t let them—and crediting the fans for giving him strength.

Those assembled weren’t about to throw cold water on the hottest party in town anyway: The crowd at Chicago’s gorgeous Auditorium Theatre—mostly women—were dressed as gold and sparkly as the 19th-century opera house itself, and they were primed to hear and cheer and sing and play along. For God’s sake, all Kelly had to do was stand still at the front of the stage and cock his head to elicit Elvis-sized screams.

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Photos by Sally Ryan

But of course he did much more than that: Every indie band in the world should be forced to watch R. Kelly tapes to learn a little bit about showmanship. For the first part of the set, the stage featured velvet ropes with ladies from the audience dancing inside while Kelly blasted through medley after medley in what felt like a tour of urban radio, 1990-present. It’s a genius move, playing only bits of songs at a time. It plays like a DJ mix with only the good parts included, from sex jam "Hotel" to sex jam "I’m a Flirt" to sex jam "Freaky in the Club."

But what makes all of those snatches of songs about snatch work so well is Kelly’s innate charisma: One minute he looks serious, then adopts a sly grin to deliver the finishing blow of "Fuck You Tonight," which goes, quite simply, "I’m fucking you tonight." The ladies at the front of the stage stroked his denim, and Robert looked right at home. The constant fucking might have been a little much without that sense of humor, which extended to a skit in which Kelly went behind a dressing screen and pretended to take off his underwear, which he then threw at an audience member who had just done the same for him. (It was all pretty clearly stunt underwear in both directions, but fun nonetheless. And Kelly wears tighty-whities, ladies.)

And he sounded fantastic, too, backed by a five-piece band—guitar, drums, a couple banks of synths—and a pair of backup singers, all situated so far upstage as to be nearly invisible. But they knew when to bring the funk—"Freaky in the Club" doesn’t get enough credit for being weird—and when to lay off completely and let the man and his audience trade vocals.

The energy dipped a bit later in the show as the string of club bumpers gave way to more tepid R&B. Still, the constant singalongs lifted tracks like "Your Body’s Calling" higher than they might otherwise have gone, and "I Believe I Can Fly" is still memorable long after Space Jam has faded away, especially with a few thousand backing vocalists on hand.

Late in the set, Kelly left the stage while a video tribute to Michael Jackson played—it was a strange moment that lasted a few beats too long: Home video of Jackson dancing to Kelly songs was touching, but we’ve seen the montage that followed it a dozen times before. It would’ve been a downer to go out on, but Kelly wouldn’t do that. Instead, he returned in a black suit and red bow tie to simultaneous honor his deceased mother and Sam Cooke, the former a huge fan of the latter. He crooned—and what a croon—"Bring It On Home to Me" and "A Change is Gonna Come" into an old-fashioned microphone before stepping back to the present for "Step in the Name of Love" and "Happy People."

There’s absolutely nothing to that last song, in the best ways: It’s just a few minutes of wide-eyed escapism ("Happy people / They keep the world dancin’"). But that’s an R. Kelly show in miniature, anyway. It’s a celebration, never much more than skin deep, but intensely pleasurable just the same.

Baroness Rock D.C. on Opening Night

Eric Nowels — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:36:28 -0600

Launching their U.S. tour Wednesday night in Washington, D.C., Savannah, GA, quartet Baroness wasted little time in showing off the grand, intricate style of Blue Record, one of 2009's most acclaimed metal albums.

Leading off with instrumental album opener "Bullhead's Psalm," the band blended detailed guitar with delicate feedback before yielding to the galloping rhythms and yowling vocals of "The Sweetest Curse." The quartet executed similar transitions several more times during an imposing 80-minute set -- although not so often as on the new album.

Despite the band's undeniable sonic grandeur, the visual presentation onstage at the 300-capacity Rock'n'Roll Hotel was more punk than prog. The only stage decoration was a reproduction of Blue Record's cover (hand drawn by singer-guitarist John Baizley) that was largely hidden by Allen Blickle's drum kit. The bushy-bearded, cropped-haired Baizley didn't say a word until the set's end, and tank-topped new guitarist Peter Adams (who replaced Brian Blickle before sessions for Blue Record) let his ornate arm tattoos do the talking.

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Photos by Nestor Diaz

MORE BARONESS:

>> Q&A: Baroness Talk New Tour
>> Metal in the Garden of Good and Evil

Baroness' music was equally succinct, despite its near-symphonic counterpoint and dynamics, and baroque-inspired guitar intros. Some passages suggested Zeppelin's "Battle of Evermore" (and its many knockoffs), but overall the group's sound was closer to hardcore icons Helmet: Baizley and Adams's guitars parried and merged in defiance of arena rock's lead guitar/rhyth guitar hierarchy. While Baizley's throaty vocals were featured, Adams sang some of the lines; occasionally, pig-tailed bassist Summer Welch joined the other two to underscore a phrase.

Baroness distills metal's recent tendencies. Its music resembles that of Explosions in the Sky (who've also worked with Blue Record producer John Congleton) or Pelican, but is more direct and concise. Baizley's lyrics draw on Biblical language and themes -- and also German mystic novelist Herman Hesse -- but are mostly too cryptic to be embarrassing. One of the show's catchier refrains, from "A Horse Called Golgotha," went, "The stained horizon / ablaze with revolvers / stampedes and bridles." Doesn't really work in print, but it's much better sung in unison atop fast, thread-the-needle guitar lines.

Bobbing their heads along with the fans, the four musicians rarely ventured a rock-star pose. (Baizley did hop on a monitor, but just for a second.) Yet Baroness's music was so overwhelming that when the band left the stage, the crowd at first accepted the departure in silence. Gradually, applause began and then swelled, and was eventually rewarded by encore of "Rise," from the quartet's debut EP.

Rise is one thing Baroness can definitely do, but the song was just as powerful as it sank, descending to a series of slow, sharp guitar pulses. Whether it's with classical guitar or punky noise, Baroness knows how to frame its loftiest crescendos with simple flourishes.

John Mayer Plays to the Cameras in NYC

Eric Nowels — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:09:19 -0600

As a fleet of cameras zoomed over the crowd eagerly awaiting the second show of John Mayer's new tour at New York City's Beacon Theatre on Tuesday night, a man stepped onstage to explain what was going on. "This is not a TV show, it's a concert," reassured Michael Simon, who was directing a live broadcast for Fuse TV. A concert, he added, "with two small commercial breaks."

So no, it wasn't the most rock'n'roll of settings for Mayer, who was celebrating the day's release of his fourth album, Battle Studies (Columbia), but the tabloid-friendly pop star has always been comfortable with his rock and non-rock tendencies, both of which were on display throughout the two-hour performance. His virtuoso guitar chops commingled with middle-of-the-road melodies, lyrics about marijuana and meaningless sex softened into ones about treating daughters well, and he gazed into the crowd with wide-eyed solemnity one moment and wagged his pelvis the next.

Mayer's career-spanning set touched upon old standards like "Why Georgia" and "No Such Thing" from his 2000 debut, Room for Squares, and crowd-pleasers like "Daughters," "Bigger Than My Body," and "Waiting on the World to Change," as well as several highlights from Battle Studies.

The cracked hearts adorning the t-shirts lining the lobby's merch area symbolized the new album's lyrical content, but the music itself was far from downtrodden. "Heartbreak Warfare," the post-break-up lament that Mayer opened both his album and the concert with, eschews moodiness for a pastiche of undulating Kraftwerk-y synth and U2-referencing guitar riffs that was particularly rousing.

During the first commercial break Mayer paused, somewhat awkwardly, and asked if everyone was having fun. Then he paused again, and admitted, "I'm going to be honest -- I don't really have a frame of reference for commercial breaks." He chose to fill the remaining dead air with his best impression of an unctuous TV host introducing imaginary guests -- a moment of pure, impromptu silliness -- then offered a sincere thanks to the fans. This juxtaposition of humor and emotional honesty has become almost as signature to Mayer as his effervescent guitar solos, which graced nearly every song of his set.

Fittingly, he ended the concert with the Battle's closing track, "Friends, Lovers or Nothing" -- a song that rests on Mayer's theory that every non-familial relationship fits neatly into one of those categories (and gently implying that friends with benefits is a bad idea). It was one last piece of lighthearted wisdom before the cameras turned off.

'New Moon' Premieres in L.A.

Eric Nowels — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:47:24 -0600

New Moon mania hit L.A. hard Monday night, and the film's stars were as frazzled as anyone by the hysteria surrounding the highly anticipated sequel.

"It is absolutely mental. I'm terrified," said newbie Jamie Campbell Bower, who joins the Twilight franchise as evil Volturi vampire Caius in the series' second installment, which hits theaters on Friday.

"I had a little bit more of an idea what to expect this time around," returning cast member Michael Welch said of the fan frenzy (The most devout Twi-hards set up camp five days prior to the premiere, all in the name of seeing their favorite bloodsuckers up close). "[But] I certainly haven't gotten used to this."

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Photos by Michelle Konstantinovsky

Perhaps more accustomed to the chaos were New Moon's sought after Twi-fecta -- Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner -- who arrived on the red carpet in time to greet fans and continue their worldwide promotional tour that has recently taken them to Mexico City, Tokyo, Munich, Madrid, Paris, and London.

Asked if the Twilight series has inspired his music in any way (the 23-year-old Brit co-wrote and performed the track "Never Think" on last year's soundtrack), a self-deprecating Pattinson joked, "Yeah, [I'm] trying to have more mass appeal."

Though Pattinson isn't included on the New Moon soundtrack, plenty of the album's featured artists showed up to Westwood's Mann Village and Bruin Theaters in support of the film.

"For me, the movie is mostly about their love story," said Swedish songstress Lykke Li. "It's about two young people falling desperately in love and it doesn't really go as they wish. I think that's a universal thing. I'm happy to be a part of the movie because that opens up a whole new territory for me."

Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla had his own take on why the Twilight series has taken over pop culture. "It has a super sexy frontman. It has a second super sexy frontman. It has a super sexy frontwoman. It has the chemistry between them. It is a timeless, perfect love story. And it has vampires."

Walla said supplying the soundtrack's lead single, "Meet Me on the Equinox," was a new endeavor for the band. "We've had songs on soundtracks, but not ever something built purposefully for the film."

Damien Kulash of OK Go added that his band was eager to contribute "Shooting the Moon" to the soundtrack. Of the movie's appeal, Kulash said, "Death is sexy. Death is dangerous and danger is sexy, so transitively, death is sexy."

Though Sea Wolf's track, "The Violet Hour," wasn't specifically written for New Moon, frontman Alex Brown Church said the film's music supervisor is a fan of the band: "Unbeknownst to me, she contact the label months ago, was interested in the song, and in the middle of our tour we got a call -- it was a complete surprise!"

Freak Out: Devendra Banhart Kicks Off Tour!

Eric Nowels — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:59:04 -0600

His hair long (but not excessively so), his face slightly obscured by five o'clock shadow (but not fully-bearded), and wearing jeans and a T-shirt underneath an open long-sleeve button-up, Devendra Banhart sang roughly half of his new What Will We Be (Warner Bros.) during a 90-minute set at Chicago's Vic Theater Monday night that doubled as a nice overview of his work to date. Songs from 2005's breakthrough, Cripple Crow, bookended the night ("Long Haired Child" opened; "Chinese Children" closed), with a few from 2007's Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon and a couple deep cuts sprinkled in-between.

This being Banhart's first tour supporting a major label record, he's perhaps feeling nostalgic for his one-man-and-a-guitar beginnings. Early on, his backing band disappeared so he could revisit a couple vintage chestnuts in solo fashion: "The Charles C. Leary" (from his 2002 debut, Oh Me Oh My…) and a cover of Johnny Thunders' "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory." Alone with only his guitar as accompaniment, Banhart's Jim Morrison-by-way-of-Lou Reed croon stood out, unencumbered by the overly generous reverb that was added to songs earlier in the set.

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Photos by Sally Ryan

The backing musicians left Banhart alone on stage a few times, emphasizing that even though he's been making full-band records since Crow, he remains fundamentally a solo artist.

He played "Little Yellow Spider," "A Sight To Behold," and "Hows about Telling a Story" on his own, then later stumbled through Smokey's "I Remember." Sitting at an organ, he stopped abruptly during the first verse and exclaimed, "This thing sounds so fuckin' bad!" Crowd exhortations pushed him to continue -- "Your music is beautiful!" cooed one female audience member.

The dude himself was enchanting. He gamely took female concertgoers' whistles and catcalls, engaged in boozy banter (he called it, "Lager-ia"), and paid warm tribute to opener Tim Kinsella of Joan of Arc ("Tim Kinsella is one of my heroes"). When an overwhelmingly female group of dancers spontaneously took over the stage during set-closer "Rats," Banhart had the look of a man clearly enjoying himself.

Despite his solo forays, Banhart clearly dug playing with his musical co-conspirators, a group that included Priestbird's Greg Rogrove on drums and Little Joy's Rodrigo Amarante on guitar and organ. "Everyone here is my favorite songwriter," he said, before paying tribute by letting his bandmates perform some of their own songs. The propulsive power pop of "No One Better's Sake," Banhart's self-professed favorite Little Joy song, was a particular highlight.

So, to sum up: no wanky jamming, no psychedelic freakouts, no faux-shamanistic shenanigans. Banhart even kept his shirt on (until the encore, anyway). This was conduct unbecoming for the supposed general of the freak-folk army. You suspect that's exactly how he likes it.

Raphael Saadiq Wows in Seattle Tour Opener

Eric Nowels — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:29:59 -0600

One city, four concerts, nine months: Most performers would wear out their welcome, but Raphael Saadiq is not most performers -- and Seattle can't get enough of the lady-killing, big-band-leading soul slinger.

From his "The Way I See It" tour stop in March to two N'awlins-spiced sets at Bumbershoot in September to last night's old-school-leaning "Kings Keep Marchin'" tour opener at the Showbox, Saadiq gives his audience what it wants.

Saadiq and his eight-piece band took the stage to the sound of Marvin Gaye's live rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" from the 1983 NBA All-star game and left to their own cover of "Let the Sunshine In" by the Fifth Dimension. In between, the 43-year-old, Oakland-born multi-talent switched from bass to guitar -- and candy-apple red suit to grey plaid three-piece to bicep-flaunting wife beater (revealing a Hendrix portrait tattooed on his left shoulder).

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Photos by Alex Crick

Saadiq touched on career-spanning highlights, including the set-opening "100-Yard Dash" from last year's Grammy-nominated The Way I See It, "Faithful" from 2002's poetically-named Instant Vintage, and "Dance Tonight" from his decade-old Q-Tip/En Vogue collabo band Lucy Pearl.

No D'Angelo on "Be Here"—though this version smoldered with heavy Parliament-style slow funk. No Stevie Wonder on "Never Gonna Give You Up"—but trumpet filled in for Stevie's harmonica solo. He covered Sly Stone's "Underdog" and took on extra vocal duties for "Show Me the Way," his 2005 cameo with Earth Wind & Fire. Women catcalled and raised digital cameras as he mugged for photos at the front of the stage.

Throughout, Saadiq's backing band was almost invisible in its tightness—until a monumental encore number when the keyboard player took lead vocals for "Skyy, Can You Feel Me," one of the night's goose-bumpingest moments. Choreographed dance moves were sophisticated, natural; horn and guitar solos stretched out just long enough to confirm improvisation. The entire performance felt calibrated for maximum entertainment.

And that's what fans got. This is the luxury of being a soul-stirring mega-talent in 2009: Every era, every influence, is at your disposal. Saadiq sampled them all, made them his own, then offered it to his fans, and they ate it up.

Setlist:
100-Yard Dash
Keep Marchin'
Love That Girl
Sure Hope You Mean It
Be Here
Faithful
Let's Take a Walk
Never Gonna Give You Up
Show Me the Way
Standing in Love

Encore:
Underdog
Skyy, Can You Feel Me
Big Easy

The Cranberries Reunite After Six Years

Eric Nowels — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:01:02 -0600

Numerous bouquets of flowers made their way from audience to stage Thursday night in Baltimore as the Cranberries played their first U.S. concert in more than six years—accepted by beaming frontwoman Dolores O'Riordan, who sported the same boyishly cropped hair that fans remember from the band's mid-'90s peak, and the same spunk.

As she chased back and forth across the stage -- punting out joyful "woo"s, kicking off her boots and tossing them backstage, gushing about her children -- the feeling was of returning to a roomful of old friends; the sold-out hall, Rams Head Live, was filled with everyone from business-casual men to young hipsters, all responding with the same feverish excitement you might see at a U2 concert.

The reunited Irish band gave a 90-minute show spanning all of their hits, for better ("Zombie") and for worse ("Free To Decide"), with some interesting surprises in between.

A few of the latter included an O'Riordan solo number (the recent "Lunatic"), which couldn't quite hold the energy of the room; the marvelously oddball doo-wop "When You're Gone"; the simple lament "Can't Be With You," with its warbling vocal bridge; and "How," a dark, powerful, and unlikely set opener equal parts race and dirge.

And how about that straight-up shimmy O'Riordan did during "Animal Instinct?"

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Photos by Josh Sisk

It's worth noting that the Cranberries didn't actually break up six and a half years ago, but rather went on hiatus. In the interim, O'Riordan explained: "Babies were born. We had fun in the bedroom." But, with no new songs, the show felt a bit more like a reunion jag than a continuation, a delayed victory lap. And, O'Riordan's voice isn't what it used to be -- not destroyed by any means, but straining with age.

That instrument was what put the Cranberries over the top, what buried "Zombie"'s whips of "and their guns/ and their bombs" deep inside listeners' brains, what turned string sections into meek backing pulp.

But Thursday night, much of the vocal theatrics from hits like "Zombie" and "Linger" were taken over by an omnipresent delay effect or passed off to the audience, which was eager to take over, and really didn't seem to mind that their heroine wasn't quite nailing it.

Indeed, looking around the room, nearly everyone in the audience had Cranberries lyrics singing off their lips. Even in her recording prime, it's a toss-up whether or not O'Riordan could have sung over the crowd anyhow. They were that loud.

But, as the encore progressed from the soft, airy "Lunatic" into another O'Riordan solo track, "The Journey," a mid-tempo rocker of a love song with a "na-na-na-na-na" refrain, and finally into the Cranberries classic "Dreams," she seemed to gain more footing. Her voice took off above the delay effect, and returned like another old friend, nailing the high, grand vocal showpiece on the bridge and chasing the Cranberries return high into the atmosphere.

Johnny Marr Joins the Cribs for L.A. Tour Opener

Eric Nowels — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:30:35 -0600

Legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr took time out from his gig playing in Modest Mouse to join the Cribs at the Roxy in West Hollywood on Monday for the first American date of the U.K. group's new tour.

Heavy on material from the Cribs' just-released, Marr-abetted album, Ignore the Ignorant, the pounding 18-song set showed the pub-punk band in a whole new light as terms like "cameo" and even "collaboration" lost all relevance. Here was a quartet of fully integrated band members, singing and playing as if all four had been working together for years.

Alternating between itchy, pinprick leads and gently shimmering vibrato chords, Marr shined on the raucous set opener, "We Were Aborted," but it was his vocal work on the next track that really stuck out. Joining singer-guitarist Ryan Jarman and singer-bassist Gary Jarman at the mic, Marr sang along to the chorus of the 2005 track "Hey Scenesters!" sounding like the twin frontmen's long-lost triplet.

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Photos by Laurie Scavo

From that point on, the famed guitarist appeared to be just another bandmate, a respectful partner content to channel his signature sparkle-and-swirl fretwork into the nooks and crannies left by guitarist Gary Jarman's driving rhythms. In fact, when it came time for the evening's lone guitar solo, it was Jarman who stole the show with a mock homage to the venue's heavy metal origins.

"We're playing the Roxy on the Sunset Strip so by way of dedication, I'd like to do this!" Jarman explained matter-of-factly before tapping out a series of intentionally hammy notes a la Van Halen.

With the band's new lineup established and the characteristically cheeky camaraderie obviously still intact, the band settled into a frothy, sweaty stride on new songs like "Hari Kari" -- a rare example of the band's political side that featured Gary and Ryan seemingly taking on both suicide and abortion rights with the lyric "It's your mind, it's your voice. It's your body, it's your choice."

And though there were some bumps along the way -- Ryan's out of tune guitars on "Men's Needs," Gary's strained singing on "Cheat on Me" -- the Cribs came off with twice the energy displayed on the albums.

It wasn't until the final song of the night, the swirling, confounding "City of Bugs," however, that the band really showcased their secret weapon, finally unleashing Marr in a torrential outpouring of spacey, six-string reverberations.

It wasn't quite "How Soon is Now?" But it was no disappointment.

Julian Casablancas Launches L.A. Residency

Eric Nowels — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:48:02 -0600

If this pop star thing doesn’t work out, Julian Casablancas has a great future as a production designer.

The 31-year-old Strokes frontman unveiled his synth-pop side with a splash on Friday night, kicking off a four-week residency behind his solo album Phrazes for the Young with a performance at Los Angeles’ Downtown Palace Theatre that was visually stunning, if a bit sonically oppressive.

The sliding murals behind Casablancas’ seven-piece band flowed with landscapes, cityscapes, waterscapes, dreamscapes, kaleidoscopic projections and post-apocalpytic montages — a very “Old Hollywood” setting for the rocker’s new persona.

The sets were conceived by Casablancas himself, in conjunction with art director/production designer Keith Greco, who has worked with Cirque du Soleil, among others. The visuals gave the 75-minute show an over-the-top quality even beyond the band’s blaring, intricately layered pop — a two-headed beast of driving guitar-and-drums and preening synths-with-electro beats.

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Photos by Laurie Scavo

Alas, it was too much at times for the partially renovated Palace, a 98-year-old Florentine Renaissance-styled theater that was making its rock concert debut after years of use primarily as a film locale (including 2006’s Dreamgirls). The imported sound system occasionally overpowered the sold-out room, whose 1,000 or so attendees included Casablancas’ Strokes bandmates Albert Hammond Jr. and Fabrizio Moretti, as well as Devendra Banhart and his band.

But the performance was nothing if not brave. “Your faith has got to be bigger than your fear,” Casablancas sings on the single “11th Dimension,” and the singer backed up his words on that song, as well as “Out of the Blue” and “Tourist,” to rousing applause, and injected a tinge of wounded soul man in his oh-so-cool quaver on “4 Chords of the Apocalypse.”

The current resident of Silver Lake (he and expectant wife Juliet are renting a house there) reciprocated the crowd’s adulation. “Fuckin’ L.A.,” he intoned at one point. “Wait. That sounded like a really negative thing, but what I mean is ‘Fuckin’ L.A.’ I dig it out here, and I dig you people.”

After seven songs and barely 40 minutes, Casablancas announced an intermission — for, as it turned out, quite possibly the first costume change in Strokes history.

He and his band returned, decked out in white, playing behind alabaster music stands. After “30 Minute Boyfriend” and “Left & Right in the Dark,” Casablancas, accompanied only by keyboardist Nelson London, slowed down for a swipe at the Strokes rarity “I’ll Try Anything Once,” stumbling and good-naturedly asking for a do-over at “Don’t don’t don’t don’t / it’s not safe anymore” in the second verse.

Okay, so he might have some work to do as a crooner.

But he’ll be here all month, folks.

Setlist:
Ludlow St.
Out of the Blue
Old Hollywood
River of Brakelights
Tourist
11st Dimension
4 Chords of the Apocalypse

Intermission

30 Minute Boyfriend
Lieft & Right in the Dark
I’ll Try Anything Once
Glass