Liam Fray: The Strokes playing live brought a tear to my eye

18 January 2020, 18:00 | Updated: 24 January 2023, 12:44

Liam Fray and Julian Casablancas performing live in 2019. Picture: Josh Brasted/FilmMagic/Rob Ball/WireImage/Getty Images

The Courteeners frontman has been telling Radio X about his love for the New York band.

Liam Fray claims that The Strokes' New Year's Eve gig was "unbelievable" and that we have them to thank for the Courteeners' career.

Speaking to Radio X's Gordon Smart this week, the Manchester band's frontman revealed that he'd been present at the gig on 31 December at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, New York - and it was an emotional moment for him.

Liam said: "Mate, tear in my eye - honestly. It was unbelievable.

"Honest, there's a 15 second solo in The Modern Age. That little section of that solo there, took me out of Oasis and Blur when I was like ten, eleven...

"When I first heard that when I was sixteen, I thought: something different's happening here."

The Strokes - The Modern Age (Official Music Video)

And The Strokes left a lasting legacy in the Courteeners' music, as Fray revealed.

He added: "I went and bought the Epiphone Riviera that Nick Valensi uses - I still use that at every gig. It's been all over the world.

On New Year's Eve, I was watching it I was going, nothing beats this. That's it."

Courteeners have just released their sixth studio album, More. Again. Forever. Fray told Radio X: "The reviews seem positive," he told Radio X's Gordon Smart. "It's looking really good."

"This is our best chance to get a Number 1. But it's looking very tight."