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| Albert Hammond, Jr. played "10:30 on a Sunday" in September. |
Albert
Hammond, Jr., of indie-rock's finest, The Strokes, played at The Sinclair
in Cambridge on Sunday, September 20 to an excited crowd. And if you know anything about me, you know that excited crowd was mostly my obsession coming out.
The Strokes
have a dedicated fanbase and following and with Hammond there is no difference.
Hammond walked onstage at 10:30 p.m. with his signature lightning bolt guitar
strap and white Fender. He was dressed casual (it was a Sunday night after all) and wore his signature black
Converse from his Strokes days (as did I).
Hammond
released his third album “Momentary Masters” at the end of July between touring
and playing at music festivals. He has previously
released two full-length albums and one EP and plays
rhythm guitar for The Strokes, but could be the lead singer as well. The two
opening acts for Hammond were lackluster, but the minute Hammond's band entered the
stage, the crowd went wild with cheer and singing along to Hammond’s lyrics. He is
able to energize a crowd like no one else. He joked around with the crowd and
his large and infectious smile filled his face in between songs while chatting with the crowd. He talked back
to the crowd when they shouted at him, no matter how obscene (I wasn't obscene, I promise. I only shouted I loved him and he told me he loved me back), and the crowd
could tell he genuinely loves being onstage.
The band and
Hammond played an outstanding 17-song set that chilly Sunday night. They opened
up with “Rude Customer” off of 2013’s EP “AHJ” and closed with a two-song
finale of the hit “Rocket” from 2008’s “Como Te Llama” and “Drunched in Crumbs”
from the newest album. While I didn't get to meet my fellow Aries again, it was a great Sunday where I would have been at work instead. I loved every second and can't wait until the next time I see my hero in concert.