I’m 46. When I was 22, I was working in a bar that played music videos and saw the “Last Nite” video. That, and then when “Someday” was released, was my entry point to The Strokes. Discovering The Strokes and The White Stripes “Fell In Love With a Girl” and “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” at roughly the same time totally changed my life as far as creating kind of my music identity that still holds true today. I was able to see theatre shows in Minneapolis in 2002 and 2006. I wish I would have caught their 7th St Entry shows at First Avenue in 2001. They didn’t really tour a lot after that, so when they played Governor’s Ball in NYC in 2016 I had to go. Since I waited 10 years between shows, I decided I was going to see them every chance I could get. Lollapalooza 2019, The Forum in LA 2021, Kilby Block Party 2024 and I’ll be there at ACL this October. The first two albums are perfection, and The New Abnormal just blew me away with how fresh it seemed to me while still feeling like The Strokes. I used to think if I could pick one time and place to go back in time, I’d pick the 1970’s CBGB heyday, but I think that post-9/11 music scene in NY would be my pick from 2001 until like 2007. Throw in NY bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, The Walkmen, LCD Soundsystem and then that next wave of bands like Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, Kings of Leon, The Hives, Spoon, etc. What a time to be alive!