In 2002, Jimmy Fallon opened a few shows for the Strokes. Mark Ronson was part of Fallon’s backing band, and the Strokes’ crowd was evidently not into what he was doing. That history came into play last night, when Strokes leader Julian Casablancas was a guest on Fallon’s Tonight Show. Fallon and his other band the Voidz just released their new album Like All Before You, and they were musical guests on the show, but Casablancas also caught up with Fallon in an interview.
On The Tonight Show, Julian Casablancas rocked bleached hair and one cut-up red glove, and he looked crazy. During the interview with Jimmy Fallon, the two of them talked about their time touring together, the new Voidz album, and Casablancas’ appearance on the new version of Charli XCX’s “Mean girls,” from her Brat remix album.
After the interview, Casablancas and the Voidz performed their trippy electro-rock song “7 Horses.” They were bathed in red light, and they played in front of what looked like a wall of skulls. As an online bonus, the Voidz also did their song “Square Wave,” with the lighting switched from red to blue. It’s weird watching Julian Casablancas sing live through copious Auto-Tune, but the Voidz have certainly become a more commanding live act since the abysmal SXSW set that I caught about a decade ago. Below, watch both performances and the interview.
Like All Before You is out now on Cult Records.