The Strokes have been praised for ending their second show at Coachella Festival with a protest against the United States’ bombing of Iran.
The Julian Casablancas-fronted group made their thoughts clear on the bombings of Iran and Gaza with a slideshow playing out behind the band as they performed OBLIVIUS for the first time in a decade. Their fourteen-song set at the popular music festival featured songs from The New Abnormal, Room on Fire, and Is This It. But the final song of the night is what has drawn the most attention, with fans of The Strokes believing the group may have just blacklisted themselves from future appearances at the festival.
A full setlist for the band’s second Coachella show from last night (April 18) can be found below.
- Hard to Explain
- You Only Live Once
- The Adults Are Talking
- Someday
- Going Shopping
- Juicebox
- Life is Simple in the Moonlight
- Bad Decisions
- What Ever Happened?
- Selfless
- Take It or Leave It
- Reptilia
- Ode to the Mets
- OBLIVIUS
During the band’s performance of OBLIVIUS, footage of strikes against Gaza and Iran played in the background. Also featured were statistics about the United States’ involvement in toppling former President of Panama, Omar Torrijos. One fan who clipped the performance and uploaded it to X wrote: “For those who missed it: this was the moment The Strokes ensured they’ll never set foot in Coachella again! I’m so proud of them.”
Another added: “The Strokes perform while screening portraits of Patrice Lumumba and Salvatore Allende, who were toppled by CIA-orchestrated coups, along with destroyed universities in Iran and Gaza. The sensibility of playing this footage behind their shout of. ‘What side you standing on? (Which side are you gonna stand on?)’ is incredible.”
A third wrote: “You all don’t understand how much I love Julian Casablancas—he is what he is, but few are the artists who would do something like this. SUCK IT UP.”
Last year’s Coachella saw similar protests of the ongoing destruction of Gaza. Northern Irish trio Kneecap led the crowd for their 2025 show in chants of “Free, free Palestine” while displaying a message on the screen behind them which read: “Fuck Israel. Free Palestine.”
Kneecap member Mo Chara said at the time: “The Palestinians have nowhere to go. It’s their fucking home and they’re bombing them from the skies. If you’re not calling it a genocide, what the fuck are you calling it?”
Kneecap’s manager, Daniel Lambert, told Irish broadcaster RTÉ the band had received death threats following their performance at Coachella and described the threats as “too severe to get into”. On social media the band have also been sharing messages of support they have received, The Guardian reported at the time.
You can watch The Strokes’ performance of OBLIVIUS at Coachella below.
