The Strokes dropped by Saturday Night Live last night to perform songs from their latest album Reality Awaits alongside first-time host Druski. Still sans longtime guitarist Nick Valensi, the band performed “Lonely in the Future” and “Going Shopping.” Walton Goggins, the star of the latter song‘s music video, joined in on the bongos when they played it. Watch both performances below.
Last night’s set marked the New York group’s fifth time on SNL. They last featured on the show six years ago, behind their 2020 album The New Abnormal. This time around, their performance arrived on the tail of North American and European legs of their Reality Awaits tour, which will bring them to Mexico, South America, and Australia in the coming months. Openers have included Thundercat, the Walkmen’s Hamilton Leithauser, and Cage the Elephant.
The Strokes followed up their SNL spot by releasing an official music video for “Lonely in the Future.” Directed by Warren Fu, the clip uses puppets to depict a number of familiar faces, from artists Lou Reed and Bach to controversial billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg. (Bezos and Musk even have a love story subplot.)
Revisit Eric Harvey’s review of Reality Awaits.