Julian Casablancas + the Voidz take the Regency Center by storm

Following the drop of Tyranny, the new album by The Strokes frontman’s most recent experimental rock side project, Julian Casablancas + the Voidz, the band has awakened audiences across the US, playing festivals and sold-out shows all summer. Last night at the Regency Center in San Francisco, Casablancas and company unleashed a wild storm of indie rock ‘n’ roll on us all. Opener Connan Mockasin, a dreamy psychedelic-pop group from New Zealand, prepped the crowd for what was to come by laying out smooth blues rhythms with a jam band twist, often changing tempo abruptly and allowing songs to flow into each other for the majority of the set.

The Voidz played surrounded by old TVs that provided almost the only source of light during the set aside from the occasional flashing strobes, contributing to the fast-paced and chaotic aesthetic Casablancas has created with his new band. Opening with “Xerox”, Casablancas immediately had fans dancing to the beat of what sounded exactly like a Xerox machine as he pranced around the pitch-black stage in his signature denim-on-denim outfit. He also indulged loyal fans by playing two Strokes songs, “The Ize of the World” and “I’ll Try Anything Once”, along with the Daft Punk song Casablancas was featured in last year, “Instant Crush”. After being called out for two encores, the band closed with “Human Sadness”, where the screams of young fans almost overpowered Julian’s nearly disorienting ability to parallel the guitar riffs with his distorted vocals.

Casablancas will be taking the Voidz on tour until early January, playing a few US shows before heading abroad to play Falls Festival and Southbound Festival.

Photography & Show Review: Michelle Borreggine

Julian Casablancas + the Voidz