LONDON—Steve Harris interviews Julian Casablancas over the telephone from Los Angeles during the “O2’s Evening Show” on Xfm 104.9. Begging one final question, “Can you give us… two or three, off the top of your head favorite Strokes songs?” Julian replies, “…maybe that, that, b-side I did, ‘I’ll Try Anything Once.’ The ‘You Only Live Once’ demo.”

LOS ANGELES—Beginning a month long residency at the Downtown Palace Theatre, Julian Casablancas emerges clad in all white, after a quick wardrobe change halfway through a set of songs from his recent solo record, Phrazes for the Young. Julian reintroduces himself before an eager crowd while fellow Strokes Albert Hammond Jr. and Fabrizio Moretti observe from the balcony, “Okay, so, me and Nelson here—my buddy—we’re gonna do, this old, this b-side. It’s a cover, it’s a cover song really.”

So, which is it? A cover song, or a b-side? Well, as “The Strokes”, of which Julian Casablancas is a member, it’s a b-side. However, as “Julian Casablancas”, it’s a cover song. Terminology aside, I was fortunate to attend this show—a performance I will never forget.