a BOB DYLAN tribute (tix) w/ members of THE STROKES who are working on a new album

April 2, 2009

Rolling Stone Magazine’s The Smoking Section Presents: DYLAN FEST 2009!
A night to get drunk and celebrate Bob Dylan’s greatest hits!

Featuring…
Hymns
Adam Green
Grant Maxwell – The Morning Pages
Jody Porter – Fountains Of Wayne
The Pierces
Matt Romano – Little Joy / Albert Hammond Jr. Band
Russell Simins – Jon Spencer Blues Explosion / Men Without Pants
Fab Moretti – The Strokes / Little Joy
Nikolai Fraiture – The Strokes / Nickel Eye
Sammy James Jr. – Mooney Suzuki
The Teenage Prayers
AND MANY MORE TO COME!!

Nikolai and Fab will be there, and a member of Albert Hammond’s band. That’s a lot of Strokes-related action at Mercury Lounge on May 21st. $10.00 tickets go on sale at noon. Many of the same artists did this last year at Rehab (RIP).

In related news,

For the first time in ages, the Strokes are back in New York, hard at work on album number four in their midtown studio. “We have three songs,” Julian Casablancas tells the S.S., three weeks into the sessions. “I would say it’s going great. We have a lot of work to do, though.”

It’s been more than three years since First Impressions of Earth, and what’s helping the process is good vibes and honesty. “It feels like we’re new,” says Casablancas. “We didn’t used to be honest — there would always be minifeuds over stupid shit. Now, if Nick [Valensi] and Fab [Moretti] or anyone are saying they like it fast or slow, we’ll talk about it, as opposed to saying, ‘Well, I never liked you sister.'”

Casablancas says that they’ve resisted jamming on old tunes; instead they’re forging ahead. “Some of the new stuff has a Seventies vibe, like Thin Lizzy or Elvis Costello,” he says. “But then some of it is bizarre music from the future that we’re trying to tone down to sound catchy. So we’re trapped between the future and the Seventies.” [Rolling Stone]