If Only I'd Been There: Gigs You Wished You'd Seen In The Flesh

On YouTube, among clips of skateboarding dogs and Susan Boyle tributes, you'll find an interesting video of a young American band trying to make a name for themselves on the New York music scene. The gig footage, shot with what appears to be a home-made video camera, is grainy; the noise is often muffled; and the darkness which looms over the stage is frequently impenetrable, rendering the band, at times, as good as invisible.

Yet, even with the technical deficiencies, every second of the 27-minute gig is relentlessly captivating - the sort of spectacle you'd have sold your mother to attend in person.

The band in question is The Strokes, and the gig was their tiny show at Arelene's Grocery on the Lower East Side in April 2000 – more than a year before the group's debut album 'Is this It' shaped the entire musical course of the current decade.

Like most people's own experience with YouTube, I stumbled across the footage by chance a couple of years ago. It initially caught my eye because the gig shared the same date as my birthday, but also due to the fact that the accompanying description claimed the set featured four unreleased songs.

Yet, even when I watch the video now, these factors become irrelevant when the five bandmates stumble onstage to a faint ripple of excitement from a tough New York crowd and unleash an eight-song set that shows just why they made such an impact twelve months later.

The energy, as you would expect from a band just simply trying to be heard, is compelling. Songs like 'Trying Your Luck', which was then called 'This Life', and 'New York City Cops' are both delivered with a bone shaking intensity. But it's The Strokes actual performance that makes me wish I was there so much. Now a band separated from their audience by a 10 metre gap, this gig is the epitome of intimate. For example, when Albert Hammond Jr falls over during one particularly enthusiastic guitar riff, he does so into the lap of the person in the front row. And when Casablancas asks, “Where's my beer gone?”, he's close enough to go to the bar and buy another one.

Last year, I interviewed Anthony Ellis of the Five O'Clock Heroes about The Strokes impact on the New York music scene and was not surprised to hear what he said about the band's resonance amongst locals at the time of their Arelene's Grocery gig.

“There’s was a Ramones thing about them,” he told me. “Julian was wearing a skinny tie and a grey top but the minute they started you forgot about that, you were like that is some serious energy. In those days, they had energy, real energy, and were hugely influential on ever New York band. It goes without saying.”

Part of me wished Ellis had said they were crap. But as this video shows, even nine years ago, The Strokes were a formidable live spectacle. I just wish I'd been there to see it.

Are there any gigs you wish you'd seen in person? Post your comments below...