If a rock concert in 2026 isn’t overtly political, is it really a rock concert?
Apparently not if the Strokes are involved.
‘As we as we fight fascism and genocide, raise wages, and guarantee health care to everyone.’
Fight the Powers
The New York band performed before roughly 40,000 fans at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens on Friday, with a lineup that included Beach House, TV on the Radio, and Fcukers — plus a couple of considerably more political special guests.
One famous audience member made sure everyone knew he was there.
“Austin Powers” star Mike Myers posted several photos from the concert to Instagram while wearing a black T-shirt reading “FIGHT FASCISM,” emblazoned with the familiar red raised fist of left-wing protest movements.
Myers described the Strokes with fire emojis before writing, “#voteinnovember #fightfascism.”
The leftist love wasn’t limited to the crowd.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) took the stage before the Strokes’ set and heaped praise on the band.
“The greatest city in the world is now welcoming the greatest rock band of our generation, who have always been committed to a better future for all of us,” Ocasio-Cortez declared, “as we fight fascism and genocide, raise wages, and guarantee health care to everyone,” she continued, as the crowd cheered.
The audience got even louder when AOC introduced the next guest: Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders.
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Bern there, done that
AOC escorted Sanders to the microphone, the two raising their arms together as the crowd roared.
Sanders opened by joking that he had come to sing a few songs.
“You wouldn’t want to hear that,” he added.
He then thanked the Strokes for “standing up for economic justice” and “fighting racism,” while praising the band’s “understanding that health care is a human right.”
Sanders closed by urging the audience to vote and to “stand up to authoritarianism” in November.
The Strokes have been “feeling the Bern” for a few years now. The band performed at a Sanders campaign rally in New Hampshire during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, with frontman Julian Casablancas calling Sanders America’s “only truly non-corporate candidate” and declaring, “This is why we support him.”
Friday’s event — which the band’s website noted was taking place in “one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods in the world” — also featured a live edition of Casablancas’ podcast, “S.O.S. Earth Is a Mess,” devoted to climate change.
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ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
Citizen Mike
As for Myers, this was hardly his first recent political outing.
The Canadian-born actor endorsed Liberal Party leader Mark Carney during Canada’s 2025 federal election and helped popularize “Elbows Up,” a hockey-derived rallying cry that Canadians adopted while pushing back against President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state.
Myers is also an American citizen. In a previous interview, he spoke about being grateful for that citizenship and described living in the United States as a privilege.
Apparently dual citizenship also means never having to choose just one country’s politics.
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Mike myers, Elbows up, The strokes, Alexandria ocasio-cortez, Bernie sanders, New york city, Entertainment
