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More than two decades after the Strokes led an indie rock renaissance in New York City, a Strokes cover band called the Brokes played a sold-out show at Arlene\u2019s Grocery, a small venue on the Lower East Side.<\/p>\n
Hailing from Toronto, the Brokes were on their first American tour, and this gig held special meaning: The Strokes used to play Arlene\u2019s back when they were the garage rock princes of downtown Manhattan honing their act at clubs like this one.<\/p>\n
During a 45-minute set, the Brokes<\/a> blazed through early Strokes hits like \u201cThe Modern Age\u201d and \u201cLast Nite\u201d as fans chanted lyrics and pumped their fists into the air. The frontman, Marlon Chaplin, wore sunglasses and fingerless gloves while singing through a distortion effect to match Julian Casablancas\u2019 vocal style.<\/p>\n The Brokes guitarist Adrian Traub-Rees, wearing a white suit and Converse sneakers, looked and sounded like Albert Hammond Jr. as he played a white Fender Stratocaster. The crowd roared when he traded licks with Brandon Wall, who plays Nick Valensi\u2019s guitar parts, during another Strokes fan favorite, \u201cReptilia.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Chaplin addressed the crowd in his Casablancas-esque tone: \u201cWe\u2019re taking you back to \u2018Room on Fire\u2019 with this next tune.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n After a few more Strokes hits, Mr. Chaplin alluded to the past: \u201cI don\u2019t need to tell you all about the history of the Strokes here at Arlene\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n The grainy footage<\/a> posted to YouTube of the Strokes at Arlene\u2019s in 2000 is now an artifact of a bygone scene. Scruffy and unsigned, the band throws itself into \u201cNew York City Cops\u201d and \u201cSoma\u201d from the tiny stage. Three years later, the group would appear on the cover of Rolling Stone<\/a>. Along with Interpol and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Strokes became part of the sleazy indie rock epoch chronicled in Lizzy Goodman\u2019s book \u201cMeet Me in the Bathroom<\/a>,\u201d and the documentary<\/a> based on it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It is the romance of the early aughts that the Brokes recreate for their fans, who are not, as you might expect, aging millennials who grew up listening to \u201cIs This It<\/a>\u201d on iPods during the George W. Bush administration. Instead, the crowd at Arlene\u2019s was made up predominantly of Gen-Zers who had discovered the Strokes<\/a> through later albums like \u201cComedown Machine\u201d (2013) and \u201cThe New Abnormal\u201d (2020) and now find themselves yearning for the band\u2019s gritty genesis.<\/p>\n \u201cThey sound just like them,\u201d said Bonnie Astrid, 23, who came to the show from New Haven, Conn. \u201cSeeing them feels like I\u2019m seeing the Strokes if they were young again. If Julian was young again.\u201d<\/p>\n Caroline Anchor, 26, concurred. \u201cBeing here feels like being at a Strokes nerd fest,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Brokes play deep cuts, songs the Strokes would never play live at some big stadium today.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Sammy Moran, 25, said he felt a fan\u2019s excitement when he bumped into a member of the Brokes on his way to the bathroom. \u201cMy parents didn\u2019t create me early enough to see that time when the Strokes were the ultimate New York band,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel robbed because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cI\u2019d rather see the Brokes a million times over than the Strokes.\u201d<\/p>\n Hours before the show, the Brokes pulled into the Lower East Side in a silver Dodge Caravan and hauled their gear into the venue. Before sound check, they took a walking tour of sorts to visit sites of Strokes history.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Their first stop was 171 Ludlow Street, the former address of Luna Lounge<\/a>, an early venue for the Strokes that closed<\/a> in 2005. Now it\u2019s a boutique hotel \u2014 Hotel Indigo \u2014 but that didn\u2019t stop the Brokes from nerding out as guests with shopping bags stood outside waiting for Ubers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re on sacred territory,\u201d Mr. Chaplin, the frontman, said. \u201cThis is where it started.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Traub-Rees, the guitarist, noted the line of tourists outside Katz\u2019s Deli.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know a lot has changed here, but to me there\u2019s still an energy on the Lower East Side,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s the tourist in me, but even despite the Luna Lounge now being a hotel, I am still seeing ghosts and resident spirits. I\u2019m not ashamed to get a pretzel and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Dan Bedard, the group\u2019s bassist, dropped the G word. \u201cWe know what New Yorkers think of the Lower East Side\u2019s gentrification,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019re not too cool to be in a tribute band, and we\u2019re not too cool to say we love New York.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Brokes continued their ruminations as they marched to the Mercury Lounge on Houston Street. \u201cThis was their Cavern Club,\u201d Mr. Traub-Rees said, referring to the Liverpool, England, venue that served as a testing ground for the Beatles. \u201cStanding here, I can visualize the long lines that formed for people to see the Strokes as they started to take off.\u201d<\/p>\n The Brokes ambled into the East Village to seek out the graffiti-marked doorway that once led to Transporterraum<\/a>, the basement studio where the Strokes recorded their debut album, released in 2001. It\u2019s still a recording studio, known now as Flux Studios. When an engineer stepped out for a smoke, he said a hip-hop session was underway. The Brokes craned their necks to peer inside before the door slammed shut.<\/p>\n Finally, they stepped into 2A, a bar that was once a hangout for the Strokes. Over Brooklyn Lagers, the Brokes reflected on their journey.<\/p>\n