How Long Is The Strokes Concert?

The Strokes is an American rock band from New York City that became popular in the early 20th century as part of the garage rock revival. Their concerts have evolved into a phenomenon in recent years due to their vigorous performances and musicianship. But how many minutes and hours does it take to attend a common Strokes concert? Thus, this article will give a brief overview of the average set times and total length of The Strokes’ concerts.

The Strokes are not famous for their long-winded performances, with an emphasis on short and intense shows instead of long-winded grooving around the stage. Their sets have varied from 30 minutes during shows in clubs in the late 90s to 90 minutes during pinnacle headlining concerts in the mid 2000s. But in recent years, they have established a standard duration for concerts that they give to their fans.

As part of promoting their Comedown Machine in 2013, The Strokes embarked on a world tour during which they performed 13 to 16 songs each night, a show that lasted for 75 minutes on average. This has become the norm for their shows in the last decade or so. Not even at those major headline festival appearances where bands may occasionally let their hair down, The Strokes diverged from this, and 70 to 80 minutes is typically the most time that the band has taken on stage.

The Strokes usually perform approximately 20 songs in their concerts, which take no more than an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes these days. When they were beginning their career and had only released two albums, they played only around 16–18 songs per concert. However, with more than 80 songs in their repertoire and six albums, including four studio ones, there is enough to choose the setlist with a density of 75 minutes.

It’s not as if things have become repetitive or predictable, though. This is one of the things I like about watching The Strokes live, because you never know what rarities or special treats they are going to include in their performances. For instance, during the Bilbao BBK festival in Spain in 2019, they stunned the fans when they performed the modern rock songs ‘You Only Live Once’ and ‘Under Cover of Darkness,’ which they had not performed in years. Likewise, during their headlining set in 2021 at Chicago’s Lollapalooza festival, they played this early b-side known as “I’ll Try Anything Once” to the audience’s appreciation.

Thus, while you can easily predict that every Strokes concert will include hits like “Last Night” and "Reptilia,” as well as other recent releases such as “Bad Decisions” and “At the Door,"  there’s always a chance that the band will add an undiscovered true treasure somewhere in between that’s no more than 75 minutes long. Everyone involved to work with to create a new set list for each city, hoping to make the most of those 45 minutes on the road.

A final aspect of The Strokes’ concerts is the track sequencing; there seemed to be few instances where there was time for tuning guitars or for Casablancas to engage in unnecessary between-song rambling. The band does not take time to go from the last chords of one song to the guitar riff or bassline that signals the start of the next song. This ensures that the energy is kept high throughout their 75 minutes on stage as they perform singles, both old and new. This constant high octane feeling has been applauded by fans, where you barely get a minute of no music or cheers from the venues.

But just how long is a Strokes concert anyway? The expectation that was noticeably clear over the duration of several years was, on average, about 75 minutes of music and performance. Based on the fact that the band does not allow their live performances to become overly luxurious and long during tours, it is possible that this trend will continue dictating the length of their shows during the tours of any future albums. As with any concert, there can always be some twists and turns as far as the setlist and duration of the performance, but The Strokes’ seem to have figured out which formula suits them best and their fans in terms of creating those infamous riveting concerts.