Concert Review: Julian Casablancas+The Voidz, Shabazz Palaces, Cerebral Ballzy @ Kool Haus

By: Daniel Melfi –

Julian Casablancas+The Voidz. (Photo: Morgan Hotston/Aesthetic Magazine Toronto)

Julian Casablancas + The Voidz played Toronto’s Kool Haus last Friday and treated fans to a highlight-reel performance in what was surely one of the last great shows in the legendary venue before it closes this January.

Casablancas’ solo act, known as “JC + The Voidz,” stopped in Toronto as part of their current North American tour in support of their new album, Tyranny, which they released on September 23, 2014.

The energy levels went from high to higher as Cerebral Ballzy opened the show for the anxious crowd with some punk that packed the Kool Haus early and kept it that way. Shabazz Palaces was next on stage and the slight change into hip-hop didn’t change the energy in the crowd. After a slight delay, Casablancas lined up with bandmates Jeramy Gritter and Amir Yaghmai on guitar, Jacob Bercovici on bass and Alex Carapetis and Jeff Kite on drums and keyboard respectively.

Sporting a cheetah onesie, Gritter opened the show with the psychedelic song “Xerox” from their new album as Casablancas mesmerized fans with his signature scratchy vocals, which pushed The Strokes to mainstream success. As the lights collided with fog flickered alongside the broken and static televisions— each scattered across the stage—Casablancas mumbled into the ears of the crowd, “Yeah, I fucked that up,” he went on, “One at a time, calm down, we can get through this.”

The show was a roller coaster ride of different rock, ranging from psychadelica to funk and even moments of a New York punk show before Casablancas, the lead singer of The Strokes,  mentioned nonchalantly, “We’re gonna play a cover now”; immediately, the crowd erupted and the band played “Ize of the World”, from The Strokes’ third album. The Voidz played the track to perfection and they treated the rockin’ floor of the Kool Haus to more tracks from Tyranny, which made up the majority of the performance.

After about an hour and 20 minutes of their high-intensity performance, JC + The Voidz played their last track of the night, “I’ll Try Anything Once” (the demo version of The Strokes’ popular single, “You Only Live Once”).

The New York frontman concluded the show with nothing less than what you would expect from Casablancas as he jumped into the crowd with praise, “Thank you, you’ve been a lovely audience.”

Click here to check out our photos from the show!