Rule #1 of Concert Going: By all means, do NOT take an hour between bands.

The Strokes would have been smart to listen to this reviewer’s golden rule for attending concerts. After opener Dr. Dog stopped at 8:05, it was exactly one hour until the New York kings of hipster cool hit the stage, and making people very restless. But when The Strokes did hit the stage, the band put together a strong half of a show.

50 minutes of the 80 minute saw the band mixing new tunes, with old favorites, which kept the crowd highly entertained, while the final half hour saw many of the 2,500 people in attendance walking around aimlessly, or finding someone to show off their newly bought threads from the “indie” store at the mall.

Looking straight out of some slimy, seedy New York club, lead singer Julian Casablancas and his band mates ripped into Heart in a Cage , one of the best songs of their latest album First Impressions of Earth. The group met with mass approval early on, as radio hits such as “12:51”, and the harder edged Juicebox were given a solid runthrough.

During the first 50 minutes or so, the group dove into some of their biggest hits, such as their breakout smash Last Nite, and Someday, but also offered new tunes, such as Vision of Division. The new material actually sounded better live, as the material off Impressions has become one of those albums in which the sound of the album has grown on this reviewer since its initial listening.

The band seemed to lose steam towards the end, with the very un-Strokes like Ask Me Anything sent people heading towards the bathrooms, or exits.

Along with Fab Moretti (is this the one dating Drew Barrymore? This reviewer isn’t sure), bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and guitarist Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond, Casablancas and the Strokes sounded much tighter this time than the sloppy set that this review saw them deliver in 2004. Perhaps Casablancas’ sobriety has helped with that.

For the first 50 minutes of their set, the Strokes almost made me forget that we had to wait an hour between bands to see them. Almost….

What do you think? Do bands waste too much time getting shows started and between sets? Post your thoughts here.