The Strokes, The Mercy Arms
Thebarton Theatre
Mon 7 Aug

It's a good job this review is to be received in the printed media, as I'd hate to think how anyone at the show would be able to hear an audio review of the concert, having had their ear drums decimated by the opening bars of Juicebox, if not during the kick drum sound check alone.

For me, The Mercy Arms were loud and not much else. Their shirtless antics were negatively clouding my judgment of the performance until the drummer vindicated their sweaty abandon by waving goodbye with a maraca. That's what I want to see in rock: less shirtlessness, more creative, or at the very least polite, maraca-shaking.

The Strokes, however, won my vote, sans maracas, in a, dare I say it, 'dazzling display' of pop-rock. Having been thoroughly unimpressed with their lack-lustre performance at the 2004 Big Day Out, I was surprised at the professionalism of this show. Julian Casablancas, in his own slurred, vague way, did his best to convey his appreciation of the crowd and, well, it seemed genuine. And, to our credit, the Adelaide crowd certainly put their all into it with much rock finger-pointing and an encore-call that only the hard, wooden floors of the Thebbie can sustain.

'First Impressions Of Earth' songs stood out clearly as 'Is This It?' and 'Room On Fire' blurred into a faultless back catalogue selection. The Modern Age, 12:51, Reptilia and a sing-a-long to Is This It formed a familiar base, complementing The Strokes' new direction. Ize Of The World, Red Light and Electricityscape were accompanied by truly superb lighting (the whole show, in fact, was a work of lighting genius), while the juxtaposition of Ask Me Anything's 14th century lilt, followed by the explosive intro and strobe lighting of Vision Of Division, sent the crowd into a tumult of dancing and cheering. Rock? With a capital R.

As with every Strokes album, the gig was a little on the light side in terms of duration. After all, had it been a 90-minute set they could have played their entire discography and thrown in a couple of b-sides as an encore. In the end, more old favourites closed the 50-minute set with a very brief, two-song encore of New York City Cops and Take It Or Leave It.

The Strokes: certainly not as overrated as you might think.

Cassie Hilditch
Pics: Fiona Stafford