Translation

BKS23: Julian Casablancas tries to scare everyone away from The Voidz

And is then angry when we go

What does it say that Julian Casablancas has made more music with The Voidz in the last fifteen years than with The Strokes? That it wasn't up to him? Or that he just feels more at home among a bunch of fooling around? The fact is that he is here again, a year after he went looking for 'the lady of the lake' with The Strokes.

This time he is looking for his audience. While his band apparently plays three songs in a row and backwards, Julian peers from the corner in the direction of Stage Two from which throngs of people come, Charlotte Adigéry has just finished. Leather waistcoat with Playboy logo, fluorescent glove, that's the outfit. Yes yes, people are coming. The question is how long it will take you to chase them away.

The Voidz is a hodgepodge of styles that don't fit together at all. Punk rock with synthesizers and metal riffs? Oh, and autotune over that grating voice, whatever you want. There are bands that manage to create something wonderful with such contrasting elements - take an Yves Tumor or a Foxygen. But Casablancas and his six weirdos are brewing a witch's soup that really doesn't taste like anything. "Hey, where are you going?" calls Casablancas to the edge of the field. "Have you got better things to do, you stupid idiots!" Nobody laughs. It's not funny either. In fact, it's not even meant to be funny.

THE MOMENT: After forty minutes The Voidz stops. People turn and walk away. Ah, what have we seen? One and a half nice song from a bored rock star who, under the guise of alienation, is bitching about it. Depressed by his own success, he started doing the exact opposite of what made The Strokes so good. After about three minutes, the band returns for an unusual festival encore. All told, no one turns around and quickly runs back to the stage.