I had been looking forward to seeing The Strokes for quite some time. They were touted as being the "next big thing" in England even before their debut Is This It was released. With a bit of good timing, I happened to get tickets to their show at the Leadmill in Sheffield last summer so I could see, for myself, if these guys could live up to all the hype. As luck would have it, drummer Fabrizio Moretti was injured a few nights before in a stage diving incident, so the show was postponed.

So, here it was, seven months later, and I was going to get to see The Strokes for the first time at the best place I know of for the vertically challenged (I am talking about myself, here) to see a show: the House Of Blues. It is always nice to see a band from head to toe rather than merely catching a glimpse every so often.

Once inside, I was pleased to see that this sold out, all ages show, attracted a variety of music lovers of literally all ages, not just the under age. Longwave was already on stage. Their swirling, hypnotic sounding guitars layered with effects and echoing, deep, vocals droned on in the background as I made my way to the bar. Everyone seemed to enjoy the music. Heads were swaying and nodding along to the music slightly, like those little, bobbing, character ornaments that stick onto the dashboards of cars. Just as I was getting a good feel for what this band had to offer, their set ended.

The curtains opened for the second time to a single man standing on stage in a choir robe/graduation gown (take your pick). At first, I thought that this guy was a comedian or even someone to merely announce the next band (my first guess turned out to be slightly closer to the right mark). This was Har Mar Superstar. Imagine Ron Jeremy with Sam Kineson hair and a potty mouth like Howard Stern singing novelty songs that sound a bit like '70s radio/disco/Motown with a dash of boy band cheesy lyrics added for good measure. When you top it all off with a bit of "I am the fucking motherfucking shit motherfucker" attitude, you almost have a complete picture of what the second act was all about. With the ability to "dance" around randomly catapulted objects such as cigarettes, bottle caps, plastic cups, and so forth, Har Mar Superstar amused some of the crowd to say the least. Yes, it did start to wear thin after a while, but he left the members of the audience with all of those visuals that we will never forget. From his choir robe, to his "Baby Do You Like My Clothes?" sequined jacket and cheekless, fringed pants, to the final "hair patch," briefs and tennis shoes, the man did make everyone feel a bit better about their physical appearance. That has to be worth something, right?

The Strokes swaggered onto stage reeking of their '70s New York attitude and rock and roll grace. They opened with The Modern Age. As for the rest of the songs, I was just there to enjoy the show, damn it. To introduce their fourth number, vocalist, Julian Casablancas announced that the next one was about "his favorite people." With flashing red lights swirling around their feet, they broke out New York City Cops. The crowd went wild, lifting people above their heads and shaking their fists while chanting the chorus to the song. Casablancas interacted with the audience just enough to let us all know that they were glad to be in town, but not too much to be annoying. Without one minute to waste, they churned out tune after tune from Is This It and looked like natural born rock stars doing it. They smoked, they drank booze, and Casablancas even rolled around on the ground, pulling out a red telephone and pretended to talk to someone. Hearing them live added a whole new dimension to their music that listening to their CD will never be able to capture. The band ended their performance with a song that pretty much encompasses their rock and roll attitude: Take It Or Leave It. For me, I will take this whole experience as being one of the best rock and roll performances I have seen in a long time. I will leave it right there.