I went and saw – them and him
I recently traveled to the windy city of Chicago. My sole purpose in going was to see The Strokes. Them playing Lollapalooza was enough of an excuse to go on vacation – and vacationed I did.
I didn’t go to all three days of Lollapalooza though, I only went to Friday. Like I said, all I cared about was The Strokes. Their performance was nothing less than spectacular. Their sound was immaculate and spot on. It’s like your listening to one of their albums but only cooler. I lost my voice from screaming along to every song. It was euphoric, it’s what I’ve been waiting for, it was The Strokes. I was a little bummed they came out late and left early, then I realized that’s what cool mofos do: fashionably late, early departure. The Strokes are the modern epitome of rock n roll.
Still reeling from the previous night’s performance, Saturday morning nearly put me into a coma. As I was walking on East Wacker Place, guess who strolls out of the Hard Rock Hotel? The man, the myth, the legend – none other than Julian Casablancas. He stepped out maybe ten feet in front of me. I didn’t a quick double check – leather jacket, tight pants, mop like hair. Yep. It’s him! I nudge my girlfriend – according to her it was much more of a hard smack – and say, “Look who that is.” We both giddily approached him and say hello. We shook his hand and told him how much we loved the show the previous night. Still in somewhat of a daze, we walked away.
Walking and talking, I think to myself, “Wait, we should totally get a picture.” We rushed back to the street corner where Julian was trying to look busy by reading a Chicago Tribune and politely asked if he minded if we could took picture with him.
“Sure,” he said, sounding as cool as possible.
Needless to say, this was the highlight of my vacation. Not only did I get to see The Strokes play their first show in the United States in four years, but I also got to meet Julian Casablancas. WIN!
Be Rad. Enjoy.
The Be Rad Blog 
Congratulations!
and your girlfriend’s outfit is so perfect for a Julian meeting. It reminds me of his solo tour get up.
Taylor
August 18, 2010 at 9:19 am
Thank you. We were excited to say the least. I totally forgot about his red pants. You’re totally right!
theberad
August 18, 2010 at 9:40 am
you are so lucky! wow jules looks so tall- i’ve always wondered: how tall is he actually, in person?…how cool that you spotted him and got a picture in a one-on-one kind of meeting like that…
pegleg
June 22, 2011 at 9:25 pm
he is 6’2 😀 Pretty tall
Alex Padilla
March 8, 2012 at 9:50 am
Didn’t know he liked the Bulls? yaay jules is so rad<3
Amber Lovesnyan (@amberXXstriped)
August 9, 2012 at 9:21 pm
Was there a lot of people who recognized him? I would imagine there would be, since downtown is usually crowded…
Amber Lovesnyan (@amberXXstriped)
August 9, 2012 at 9:35 pm
It was fairly early in the morning, so the crowds were minimal. Only one other person noticed him, some Asian fellow, which is actually a funny, albeit sad story.
This Asian guy asked me take a photo with him and Julian. So they stand next to each other and I try to take a picture with this huge DSLR and I can’t figure it out! I’m like, “uhhh…it’s not working,” and the Asian guy is saying to me, “Just push the button.” But no luck, I could not get the darn thing to work and Julian was getting noticeably frustrated. Not wanting to upset the Rock God, I handed the dude his camera, apologized profusely, and left in a hurry. I’ve always felt so bad for not being able to figure out his camera, but like I said, Julian wasn’t having it and with my adrenaline and nerves pumping out of control, all I wanted to do was get out of there.
My fellow Asian friend, if you’re reading this, I sincerely apologize.
theberad
August 10, 2012 at 7:13 am
I understand your pain :,) poor guy , hope he got a photo…..and Julian haha<3
Amber Lovesnyan (@amberXXstriped)
August 22, 2012 at 3:02 pm
He seems to be quite friendly. He treats you well?
He treated you well?
I would like meet him too, he is very talented, I love Stroke’s musics.
Ronny
March 15, 2013 at 5:05 pm