Julian Casablancas @ the Palace Theater (11/06)

View more photos in Timothy Norris' "Julian Casablancas at Palace Theater" slideshow.

Downtown L.A.'s Palace Theater may be best known for its role in Michael Jackson's "Thriller." In a memorable scene, Jackson exits the theater and tries to convince his frightened lady-friend that the scary creatures, loud sounds and haunting music were just a spectacle. "It's only a movie," he says. On Friday night, another shaggy haired, leather jacket-wearing singer paid a visit to the Palace: Julian Casablancas. The Strokes singer kicked off a series of Friday gigs at the Palace, following the release of his solo album, Phrazes for the Young. But like Jackson's critique of Thriller's mini-movie, Casablancas' Palace performance, though big budget and flashy, was mostly spectacle.

Timothy Norris

​

Eight years have passed since the Strokes presented "Is This It" and their stripped down sound that ushered in what music journos at the turn of the millennium called a "return of rock." In the delightfully dilapidated hall of the formerly ornate Palace Theater, Casablancas presented the streamlined and off-kilter dance pop from Phrazes, a dancey derivation but not a departure from the Stokes oeuvre.

Timothy Norris

​
Displaying the usual detachedness that Casablancas showcased with the Strokes, the singer held the mic stand tightly, while video projections and huge banners of LA cityscapes alongside Brooklyn brownstones scrolled in the background. He closed his eyes and ran through the frenetic electro stomp, "River of Brakelights" and the organ drenched, 1980's A-Ha-rocker, "11th Dimension." Casablancas solo sound is a solid, highly danceable (Breakfast Club style) mashup of The Horrors, the Faint, and well, the Strokes.

Timothy Norris

​
The audience, comprised of more than a few Strokes look-a-likes in Members-Only Jackets and Air Force Ones, watched with patient fascination, perhaps hearing these Casablancas songs for the first time. Others patiently waited for a Strokes song to waft from Casablancas' general direction. This suspicion was not unfounded, earlier in the evening two Strokes, Albert Hammond, Jr. and Fabrizio Moretti were spotted upstairs surrounded by squeeling girls and iPhones uploading aren't-you-jealous tweets. The gentlemen never graced the stage, but later Casablancas let out one Strokes rarity, "I'll Try Anything Once."

To Casablancas' credit, the show looked great on a chocolate-bar sized screen. And perhaps even sounded great after it was compressed, emailed, and uploaded to a torrent site. But live, Casablancas seems to be anything but. Even Thriller's zombies showed more energy, and they were dead.

Timothy Norris

Energetic?

​