They met at a gig at England's Leeds University last year, hung out a bit,

and thought it would be "cool" to get their bands together for a couple of

shows in their respective hometowns - New York City and Detroit.

The gigs were in the works almost as soon as the words were spoken - such

are the conveniences of a rock n'roll lifestyle.  Tickets for these 3 co-headlining

gigs (two in NYC and one in the Motor City) sold like ice cream on a hot

day, some tickets popping up for sale on EBay for over $200 bucks each.

We're talking, of course, about The Strokes and The White Stripes.

The mid-August concert circuit got a real shot in the arm from these three

shows, the most impressive of which was the rockers' August 15th set at New

York's Radio City Music Hall, which featured such luminaries as Beck in the

audience, and which ended with White Stripes guitarist Jack White joining

The Strokes on stage to screech out the guitar solo for The Strokes' tune

"New York City Cops."

Both bands' popularity was further confirmed by the giant mass of a couple

of hundred fans on 51st Street, where both Jack and Meg White and The

Strokes' drummer Fab Moretti hung out of a second floor dressing room

window, cheerfully bantering with those thronged below and nearly causing a

riot when Jack White threw one of his famed red t-shirts into the crowd.

So, what's the big deal?

Well, first of all, both bands are arriving as part of what's been highly

touted as the first real musical breakout since the grunge movement of the

early '90's.  Hot on the heels of the quickly-dying teen pop trend, today's

up and coming bands - The Strokes and The Stripes along with The Hives,

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Vines, and others - are being dubbed

everything from the New New Wave to the New Punk Movement to The New Garage

Rock;  but whatever label you put on it, it mostly sounds like a giant sigh

of relief to those looking for something a little more innovative than much

of the pop schlock that's been dominating the airwaves for the past couple

of years.

The only other trend even coming close to the intellectual and sonic output

that these bands are presenting us with is the recent New British Invasion

- Coldplay, The Doves, Stereophonics,  etc. - and both movements compliment

each other to a high and welcome degree.

But why these two bands?

The sound?  Think Television, The New York Dolls, The Velvet Underground,

maybe a little Suede - a punk-pop cocktail with The Strokes' own twist.

And how are they live?  Tight, rockin', and restless, as their 2001 live

dates with The Doves and Guided By Voices proved.  Now throw in a

shamelessly Happy Days-style band logo and a wardrobe of vintage suits and

ties, rumpled logo t-shirts, battered leather jackets, and subway-worn

jeans, and you've got The Strokes mix - where the '70's and the '80's meet

in a very 21st Century ready package.

With each of these bands being striking performers in their own right,

together they make for quite a show.  Apparently both bands think so, too -

as of press time, they've reportedly been discussing possibly splitting a

double A-side CD single, one side for The Strokes and one side for the

White Stripes.

That would be one heck of a collector's item.  The Strokes have an

extensive list of tour dates (sans The White Stripes) that's set to keep

them mostly on the road through November 29th, when they wrap up with a

final (for now) show in their hometown of New York City - and when they're

not trekking around on the tour bus, they're working on writing a slew of

new tunes for what will presumably be The Strokes' next album.