Albert Hammond Jr

This is the story of a lonely Stroke, and his battle with the British Music Press. A rejected song by the Strokes, and 10 other songs later, can this Stroke prove that he is not merely a New York Fashion god, but also a performer in his own right?


To see a Stroke in such intimate enviroment is rare for England, even news of secret gigs travel on the horizon until the whispers turn into shouts and scenesters line the street outside the venue in the hopes they just might get in. So when news of Albert Hammond Jr and his solo tour hit the pages of NME and tickets didn't sell out instantly there was a slight air of worry. Did people just not believe in him? Or are the Strokes fans only there for Julian? Regardless of this, there was a certain degree of excitment, the fact that the man himself, guitarist in The Strokes really did have to prove himself to his public. Would he be able to put a voice to his face?

His band is made up of Albert himself on vocals/guitar, Josh Lattanzi on Bass, Matt Romano on drums, then they have called in the additional help of Marc Phillippe Eskenazi on guitar/keys, and Steve Schiltz on guitar for the tour. Albert's sound is almost endearing, being much more mellow than most Strokes fans are used to, however in the music you can hear the influence of the early Strokes sound. But would the music that he has created on the LP be able to transcend to the live stage.

When the band actually take to the stage, in the tiny venue which is the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham, armed with plastic cups filled with their drink of choice for the night, the crowd cheer as if to show their acceptance of the lone stroke.

Armed with his infamous Fender Strat, Abert & co kicked into In Transit, possibly the best opening song, as it is well known from The Strokes, In Transit DVD and has caused a stir due to The Strokes declining it as one of their songs to go on the album (but in all honestly the simplicity of the song would be ruined if it had been a Strokes song due to the over-compensating voice of Julian). This was a great song to warm up the crowd with, and let just say that this crowd definately needed warming up, as they seemed as alive as ............. during The Pierces set.