Music
It’s a note of defiance from the New Yorkers…
19 · 04 · 2026
The Strokes closed their Coachella set with a video protesting American involvement in the Middle East.
The band struck a defiant note at the Californian festival, playing some classic cuts and introducing their new era. Incoming album ‘Reality Awaits’ lands this summer, with The Strokes also set to play a UK arena headline tour.
Frontman Julian Casablancas adopted a political tone during the Coachella set – the songwriter has long been vocal about his left-wing beliefs, and closely supported Mandani’s successful run for New York mayor last year.
Referencing Justin Bieber’s laptop set from Coachella’s opening weekend, Julian Casablancas used this to poke at American mainstream media’s coverage of ongoing events in Iran.
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He said: “I was tempted to show up here with a laptop tonight and show you guys some of those Iranian Lego videos. Have you seen them? Really good. They’ve got more truth than your local newspapers. But they were wiped out. By YouTube, or by the government, doesn’t matter. They erased that shit. But it’s the land of the free, isn’t it?”
“Eu estava tentado a aparecer aqui com um laptop hoje a noite e mostrar pra vocês alguns daqueles videos de lego iranianos. Vocês já viram? muito bons. Tem mais verdades do que os seus jornais locais. Mas eles foram apagados. Pelo YouTube, ou pelo governo, tanto faz. Eles… https://t.co/27BGZLUCEK
mdash; Julian Casablancas Brasil (@casablancasfcbr) April 19, 2026
The band’s set closed with a video montage of American-backed violence in the Middle East – notably finishing with the destruction of the final university in Gaza.
The stunning video completely wrong-footed both the crowd and organisers, with some online joking that “they’ll never set foot in Coachella again!”
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