The Strokes are the superhosts planned for Saturday 15 July in the third edition of the Traffic Torino Free Festival (in Turin, 12-16 July), the main protagonists of an entire day dedicated to New York music and culture. After Franz Ferdinand, who will take the stage at the Parco della Pellerina on Friday 14 July, also the Strokes, in Italy with Barley Arts, will perform at the same venue, finally giving the general public the chance to follow them en masse and for free (as is the case for all Traffic events). In previous Italian concerts, in fact, the New York band had left many fans with a bitter taste in their mouths as they had not been able to follow them. In 2002 they had performed at Milan's Alcatraz, in 2004 at Rome's Palacisalfa and in 2005 at Milan's Transilvania Live: locations too small to accommodate all their fans.
The Strokes have been called 'the new Velvet Underground' and the trade press has repeatedly cried miracle for them. Formed in New York in late 1998, they were initially a trio - the singer and frontman Julian Casablancasguitarist Nick Valensi and the drummer Fabrizio Moretti - which then became a quintet with the entry into the line-up of Nikolai Fraiture bass and Albert Hammond Jr. on guitar. The band, now fully formed, debuted at Spiral in New York in 1999 to good public and critical acclaim. That concert was followed by many other appearances in the Big Apple's underground clubs and, after a dense word-of-mouth campaign, the band was signed by London-based label Rough Trade in November 2000. The following January, they released a single entitled "The Modern Age". The contract with major label RCA came shortly afterwards. But it was in 2001 that the Strokes finally established themselves: they supported the US tour of the Doves, played with Guided By Voices and came to the UK for a series of concerts with Trail Of Dead. After the release of the album 'IS THIS IT"In September 2001, they embarked on their first headlining tour through the US and then Europe. Exactly two years after the successful debut, the band returns with "ROOM ON FIRE". The third disc, 'FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF EARTH', was released in early 2006, preceded by the single 'Juicebox' and a tour of small clubs.
Official website of the band :
www.thestrokes.com
