The New York rock band The Strokes made their fifth musical guest appearance on Saturday Night Live, performing two songs from their latest studio album, Reality Awaits. The band opened with “Lonely in the Future.” The group last appeared on the show in 2020 to promote The New Abnormal.
The nine-track album, like its predecessor, was produced by Rick Rubin. The band began recording with him in 2022 in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Rubin said on Joe Rogan’s podcast that October that the band played outdoors on a mountaintop rented for the sessions. Additional recording took place at Rubin’s southern California studios, Shangri-La and The Mansion.
The band’s second performance was “Going Shopping.” Walton Goggins, who starred in the song’s music video, joined on bongo drums.
The appearance followed the North American and European legs of the Reality Awaits World Tour. The band is scheduled to play Mexico and South America in the coming weeks and Australia in February. Its next scheduled U.S. dates are the Innings Festival in Arizona in February and Salt Lake City’s Kilby Block Party in May.
Guitarist Nick Valensi, who took a temporary break from the summer part of the tour, was not on stage Saturday. Steve Schiltz of Longwave replaced him on the tour. Valensi recently played “Rio” with Duran Duran in Paris.
Source: Rolling Stone Music
