The Strokes closed out their set at Coachella this past Saturday with a performance of their 2016 song “Oblivius” accompanied by a charged video montage detailing decades of alleged CIA-backed atrocities and assassinations, and culminating with footage of recent destruction in Iran and Gaza.
In a potent echo of the present, the montage began with a photo of former Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, who was overthrown in a 1953 coup backed by British and American intelligence services. Mossadegh’s photo was followed by other world leaders who were either overthrown and, in some cases, assassinated by U.S.-backed operations, including the Congo’s Patrice Lumumba, Bolivia’s Juan Torres, and Chile’s Salvador Allende.
There was also a slide dedicated to a 1999 civil trial in which a jury decided there was a U.S. government conspiracy to assassinate civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (While it’s well-documented that King was surveilled by the FBI and CIA for years, the Department of Justice has repeatedly rejected the conspiracy claim, with a 2000 investigation turning up no evidence of the government’s alleged involvement.)
The Strokes brought their performance to a close with footage of rubble in Iran, with a slide stating that more than 30 universities have been destroyed by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes this year. The final image was of the al-Israa University in Gaza, the last university in the Strip, which Israel destroyed in 2024. During these closing moments, frontman Julian Casablancas howled the final refrain from “Oblivius,” “What side are you standing on?”
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While the Strokes chose not to end their weekend-one Coachella set with this politically-charged montage, the stance should come as no surprise. Casablancas signed a 2021 petition calling for a free Palestine, while that same year he hosted a video interview series for Rolling Stone — S.O.S. — Earth Is a Mess — that found him discussing American imperialism, Marxism, wealth inequality, and more with a variety of prominent intellectuals on the left.
The Strokes are gearing up to release their new album, Reality Awaits, on June 26. A North American tour will kick off that same month, with shows scheduled through September.
