Recommendations of the Editorial team
The Strokes ended their set at Coachella last Saturday with a performance of their 2016 song “Oblivius” — accompanied by a charged video montage documenting decades of alleged CIA-covered atrocities and assassinations and ended with footage of recent destruction in Iran and Gaza.
In a haunting echo of the present, the montage began with a photograph of former Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, who was overthrown in 1953 in a coup supported by British and American intelligence services. Mossadegh’s photo was followed by other leaders who were overthrown or, in some cases, assassinated by US-backed operations – including Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Juan Torres of Bolivia and Salvador Allende of Chile.
An insert also focused on a 1999 civil trial in which a jury concluded that the US government was involved in the murder of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. (That King was monitored for years by the FBI and CIA is well documented – but the Justice Department has repeatedly rejected the conspiracy theory; a 2000 investigation found no evidence of government involvement.)
Political statement about the finale
The performance concluded with footage of rubble in Iran, along with an overlay saying that more than 30 universities had been destroyed by US and Israeli air strikes this year. The last picture showed al-Israa University in Gaza – the last university in the Gaza Strip, which Israel destroyed in 2024. In these final moments, frontman Julian Casablancas belted out the final refrain of “Oblivius” into the microphone: “What side are you standing on?”
The fact that The Strokes omitted this politically charged closer to Coachella’s second weekend doesn’t change the fact that the band’s stance is hardly surprising. Casablancas signed a petition for a free Palestine in 2021; That same year, he hosted a video interview series for ROLLING STONE – “SOS — Earth Is a Mess” – in which he discussed American imperialism, Marxism, wealth inequality and more with various prominent intellectuals on the left.
The Strokes are preparing to release their new album Reality Awaits on June 26th. A North American tour begins the same month, with shows running through September.
