The Strokes' Coachella Set Draws Praise For Politically Charged Message On Iran, Gaza Bombings

Last Updated:April 20, 2026, 18:07 IST

The set concluded with the song “Oblivius” from their 2016 EP Future Present Past, performed for the first time live in decades.

Rock band The Strokes closed their Weekend 2 Coachella set with a highly political finale that has sparked widespread praise, after they ended their performance with a video montage referencing CIA-backed regime changes and recent conflicts in Gaza and Iran.

The set concluded with the song “Oblivius" from their 2016 EP Future Present Past, performed for the first time live in decades. As frontman Julian Casablancas repeated the line “What side you standing on," large screens behind the band displayed a sequence of archival and modern war imagery.

The montage included references to alleged CIA involvement in historic regime changes, alongside footage and captions referring to bombings in Gaza and Iran. One segment showed “over 30 universities destroyed in Iran," while another showed a damaged academic building in Gaza labelled as the “last university standing."

Casablancas also made a brief onstage remark at the start of the set, saying: “I was tempted to come out with a laptop and show you guys those Iran LEGO videos. You guys see those? More facts than your local news, but they were taken down. YouTube or Government or whatever. Land of the free, am I right?"

The video sequence also referenced historical events including the 1953 overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, Chile’s 1973 coup, and other instances of alleged US-backed interventions abroad.

The presentation shifted from historical material to more recent Middle East war imagery as the set closed. The inclusion of Gaza and Iran footage drew particular attention, given past controversies at Coachella involving politically charged performances.

News world The Strokes' Coachella Set Draws Praise For Politically Charged Message On Iran, Gaza Bombings

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