Lytham Festival 2022: Once in a lifetime moment as die-hard fan joins The Strokes on stage

What a coup for die-hard fans, who took that longed-for Friday night feeling and stepped it up a notch as Lytham Festival brought a rock indie vibe for its antepenultimate night.

It was a rock masterclass as the band tore through some of their best anthems, opening with the titletrack from their debut studio album, Is This It.

Fan-favourites like New York City Cops, Hard to Explain (my personal favourite), What Ever Happened? and Someday showed off their electrifying signature sound.

The crowd was hanging off every word of The Strokes’ frontman Julian Casablancas whose topical sarcasm – ‘I have a great idea, let’s talk about politics’ – encouraged playful chants from fans.

But there was one fan in particular who found herself standing out from the crowd when Casablancas spotted her holding up a sign which read ‘Can I sing Ode to the Mets with you?’

A once-in-a-lifetime moment followed when that lucky fan was invited up on stage to blast out the 2020 track from their sixth studio album, The New Abnormal.

It takes some guts to stand in front of an 18,500-strong crowd – and lap up some X-Factor-style judging by Casablancas who established she was both ‘alright’ and ‘awesome’.

Either way, the envious crowd were gracious enough to let her enjoy her moment – but even more grateful when Casablancas reclaimed his rightful place centrestage and launched into an epic version of Reptilia that sent them wild.

The Lounge Society had kicked off the night earlier on, followed by Isle of Wight band Wet Leg who warmed up the crowd brilliantly with their refreshing rock indie tunes like Chaise Longue that have since been added to our playlist at home.

The steller line-up also saw special guest Irish post-punk band Fontaines DC whipping up the crowd into a frenzy before The Strokes took to the stage for 90 minutes of fast-paced, high energy, immense jamming.

Just as Casablancas told the lucky fan on stage – ‘a great memory and a great journey for you’, we’ll take away the great memories of the start of a great new journey putting Lytham firmly on the rock scene.