photos by Darren Kim

"In his stage show, which [began] Friday at the Downtown Palace Theater in Los Angeles -- a New York residency is planned for January -- this song will be represented by a multimedia landscape of videos and sets depicting the neighborhood, which Mr. Casablancas will stroll through. It is over the top by design -- he compared it to the "Radio City Christmas Spectacular" or a Disney show -- so he can charge higher ticket prices, he said, to offset a series of free concerts he hopes to do." [NY Times]

"The relatively short set was broken up with an intermission, which the band used for a costume change, slipping into some '70s-style white suits and unveiling an all-white set makeover that could have been ripped from "American Bandstand." The visuals impressed, more so because the giant sliding screens allowed for the underground water shots, cartoon-ish cityscapes and kaleidoscope-like prisms that mirrored Casablancas' intricately weird arrangements. No wonder such a short performance carries a relatively high admission price, with tickets starting at $35." [LA Times]

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