The Strokes Debut New Single and Revive Rarities at Bonnaroo 2026

The Strokes’ headlining slot at Bonnaroo on Friday night played out like a band at ease with its own legacy—charming, meandering, and knowingly offhand. The set arrived two weeks after the group announced it was delaying its seventh album, Reality Awaits, to July 24, and the show doubled as a live update: 18 songs, the new single, and a rare opener.

They began with “Killing Lies,” a track not performed since 2022, before easing into the catalog-spanning run. The live debut of “Falling out of Love” came mid-set, sung in full and slotted among the expected jolts (“Reptilia,” “Someday,” “Hard to Explain”). Casablancas, between verses, kept his banter corrosive and off-the-cuff. During the opener he cut the music with “Kill the fucking lights… kidding”—a nod to Kanye West’s April meltdown in Los Angeles, and to West’s own fraught Bonnaroo history. He later mocked NFTs and, after reaching for a high vocal, muttered, “What the fuck was I thinking!”

Guitarist Nick Valensi was absent, as the band previously announced he would step back from touring. His absence didn’t derail the show; the set felt tight enough to carry the gaps, and the new material sat comfortably next to early-2000s jabs. The setlist drew from every studio album, including the forthcoming Reality Awaits, but avoided nostalgia-as-crutch. Instead, the performance underlined how the Strokes now function as an irregular but functioning entity—touring behind a delayed record, cracking wise about their past, and letting their catalog do the heavy lifting. The New York concert with Beach House and TV on the Radio, set for October, suggests this summer run is only the start.