Rob Sacher, a club promoter who booked The Strokes at Luna Lounge during the band’s early days, has a book coming out on March 1, 2012, called Wake Me When It’s Over.
In the book, Sacher recalls first booking The Strokes at Luna Lounge. Later in the excerpt, Albert Hammond Jr. recounts why The Strokes being booked at Luna Lounge was such a big deal for the band.
“I don’t remember if we had been in Luna before but it was definitely one of the clubs that was on the ladder up. There was an excitement in us when we arrived for our first show. We were gonna play two new songs, “Modern Age” and “Last Nite”.
The room was so beautifully lit. The bar was dark and the live room was darker, with a black light vibe radiating. Looking back, it was probably a very small room but at the time, Luna looked like a masterpiece, a square in the middle of the room, orange walls, and a thing that was starting to happen, fans!
I remember feeling great, another notch on the belt. We hung out all night at the bar. I think we met Kerri Black after that show. I remember we had asked you to be on a weekend and I think you hesitated and put us on a Thursday. But, when you saw we brought people after that, it got easier.
That night was the beginning of asking for things we wanted that maybe we hadn’t earned yet, but getting it, I think because of our music. I don’t think we looked at the final goal at that time. We just always had baby steps and mini goals that kept arriving faster and faster ’till you no longer have control over them. Actually, looking back, you realize you don’t have control over any of it. All you can control is the playing, the vibe and the music, and in those days, we, all five, in our own way brought everything we had to The Strokes.”
If you’d like to read more and order the book, go here.
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