The Strokes support Kina Collins for Illinois’ Democratic primary | Watch

The Strokes performed in Chicago to support local politician Kina Collins, who will be contesting Illinois’ Democratic primary on June 28. Collins, the 31-year-old activist has several issues on her agenda including fighting for unions, body autonomy, gun control, and climate solutions. 

“I’m running for Congress because we need representation that gives a damn about us”, she said at the start of the concert, adding, “The congressman I’m running against has been my congressman since I was five years old”, Variety reported. 

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The politician explained how she’d met Julian Casablancas of the band, at a New York house party, and convinced the singer to perform for “the hardworking folks across the Midwest who are doing what they need to do to elect progressives”. 

Casablancas, midway through the band’s performance, said “Sorry to the Republicans in the crowd”. 

The Strokes have previously extended support to other progressive candidates like Maya Wiley, who was running for New York mayor, and Bernie Sanders, who made his run for the president’s seat. 

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However, the band had arrived an hour late at the concert for Collins, drawing a few boos from the crowd, which soon turned into cheers, when they belted out tracks like ‘Bad Decisions’, ‘Juicebox’, and ‘You Only Live Once’. After exiting with an electric rendition of ‘Reptilia’, The Strokes returned for a three-song encore. One of them was ‘Eternal Summer’, the band’s song about global warming. Before diving into the performance, Casablancas commented, “Maybe there’s something we can do about it… elect non-corporate independent politicians maybe…”

The last time the band had played in Chicago, before this, was in 2001, and their debut album ‘Is This It’ was only a few months old at the time. Collins’ concert was initially slated to take place on May 30, but there was a COVID case within the band which led to a postponement.