Inside the Night The Strokes had El Paso “Under Control”
Story and Photography by Annabella Mireles
With a band as big as The Strokes and a venue as intimate as the Abraham Chavez theatre, it is no wonder why the concert was a sold-out event. On Oct. 1, 2025, only a few days before their headlining performance at Austin City Limits, the American rock band performed in El Paso with punk rock opener Die Spitz.
The band flooded the theatre with smoky lights and vibrant hues of red, blue and green, while reviving hits like “Reptilia,” “Adults are Talking,” and deeper cuts like “Juicebox.”
With the theatre being one of our city’s more intimate venues, holding a capacity of 2,500, there was no doubt that a virtual fight via Ticketmaster would unfold, with viral posts showing about 20,000 fans in queue.
Longtime fan Nathalie Pedregon says she didn’t mind the venue size and said it added to her experience and the overall atmosphere and even interacted with drummer Fabrizio Moretti before the concert.
“It was a full circle moment for me because I’ve been a fan of them since I was 16 or 17,” Pedregon said. “I remember seeing the event poster on my Instagram feed and thought I was being scammed because I couldn’t believe they were coming here. I had seen them at Red Rock, but they looked like ants in that theatre. We got to sit orchestra this time and had a much closer experience. Before the concert, we saw them come out of Ambar and Fab came out and gave my sister and I a hug. He even shook hands with my husband. I still can’t believe we got to meet them.”
The band’s choice to include El Paso and Las Vegas as ‘warm-up’ concerts before their back-to-back weekend festival headline performances pleasantly surprised El Pasoans. According to their website, the band will be continuing the festival stops after Austin in Australia for Harvest Rock Festival and in California for Coachella.
“Looking around and seeing people overwhelmed with their love of their music and singing every lyric is an experience and feeling you can’t get anywhere else,” fan Mark Chavez said. “Their discography is so extensive, and they played songs from ‘The New Abnormal,’ big hits like ‘The Adults Are Talking,’ and ‘Juicebox’ from their third album which was the highlight of my night. I love when artists play deep cuts. It catches you off guard and you feel rewarded because you’ve put in the work to listen to all their songs.”
With recent performers like Coldplay, Kali Uchis, and now The Strokes, there is no doubt El Pasoans feel more hopeful about future entertainment in the sun city.
“We’re such an access point for several communities,” Chavez said. “We have New Mexico and Juarez right next to us and our culture has so many music fans here. Even though we are a smaller city in comparison to Austin or Dallas, when artists come here, the communities around us always show up.”
For more information on the band’s tour dates, visit https://www.thestrokes.com/
