New York indie rock band The Strokes delighted fans in Boston last night, June 23, by performing a cover of The Walkmen's 2012 track 'Heaven'. The surprise rendition saw The Walkmen's former frontman, Hamilton Leithauser, join The Strokes on stage at the TD Garden arena to take over vocal duties for the song.
Julian Casablancas, The Strokes' frontman, introduced Leithauser to the crowd, expressing his personal affection for the song and Leithauser's voice. Casablancas stated his desire to "make my dreams come true" by performing the track, noting that Leithauser doesn't typically feature this specific song in his own sets. Leithauser, who is currently supporting The Strokes on their North American tour, then led the performance, backed by The Strokes, delivering a version that reportedly closely resembled the original, complete with its distinctive guitar riff.
Beyond the unexpected cover, The Strokes' set included a mix of their classic hits and more recent singles, 'Going Shopping' and 'Falling Out Of Love'. These new tracks are from their forthcoming album, 'Reality Awaits', which has seen its release date pushed back from June 26 to July 24. This delay, as explained by guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. in a now-deleted social media post, was to align the streaming release with the vinyl availability.
The current North American leg of their tour precedes a highly anticipated series of dates in the UK, Europe, and Japan later this year. This marks The Strokes' first full headline tour across the UK and Ireland in over 20 years, with planned stops including London's O2. Due to significant demand, additional dates have been added, with various support acts including Thundercat, Cage The Elephant, and Hamilton Leithauser himself.
Notably, these upcoming shows will see The Strokes perform without guitarist Nick Valensi, who recently confirmed he would be taking a "temporary break" from live performances. Albert Hammond Jr. has spoken positively about the new album, describing 'Reality Awaits' as his "favourite album" the band has ever made, despite some initial fan feedback concerning Julian Casablancas' use of vocoder on early singles.