The Strokes have announced an extra London O2 show for their 2026 ‘Reality Awaits’ UK tour due to phenomenal demand.
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The New York indie rock legends are soon to release their new album ‘Reality Awaits‘, their first album in six years. The record – recorded in Costa Rica with producer Rick Rubin and finished in a number of global locations – will arrive June 26 via Cult Records/RCA Records, and is available to pre-order here.
To mark the occasion, The Strokes announced a whopping world tour visiting the UK, North America, Europe and Japan. It will be their first full tour in the UK and Ireland in over 20 years, and will see them stop by London’s O2, Newcastle’s Utilita Arena, Manchester’s Co-op Live and Dublin’s 3Arena in October.
Thundercat, Cage the Elephant, Hamilton Leithauser, Fat White Family, Alex Cameron and ÖLÜM will support select dates across the world tour.
Now, it’s been announced that The Strokes have added an extra date to their O2 show thanks to phenomenal demand. Alongside their previously announced October 6 date, Julian Casablancas and co. will now play another gig at the O2 on October 7.
General sale begins tomorrow (April 17) at 10am local time – get your tickets here and see below for The Strokes’ UK and Ireland dates:
The Strokes’ 2026 ‘Reality Awaits’ UK and Ireland tour dates are:
OCTOBER
6 — London, UK—The O2
7 — London, UK—The O2
25 — Newcastle, UK—Utilita Arena
26 — Manchester, UK—Co-op Live
28 — Dublin, IE—3Arena
So far, The Strokes have released their first single from ‘Reality Awaits’, ‘Going Shopping‘. The song was posted to fans on cassette first, leading fans to share bootlegs online before the band debuted the song live in San Francisco.
In our three-star review of the track, NME wrote: “Although ‘Going Shopping’ doesn’t feel bold, it does avoid playing anything safe. You couldn’t definitively place its sound on any of The Strokes’ previous six albums, but the lack of spirit and tenacity – save for a guitar solo at the end – is noticeable. “If you’re better than me you don’t have to judge me,” signs off Casablancas, with an imaginary raised eyebrow. But perhaps even he would admit that The Strokes are better than this.”
Previously, Albert Hammond Jr has stated that the album would have a “looser” feel, given their recording location in Costa Rica. “I think the environment can affect you, sure; sometimes it might come out in a song or a part,” he told The Shaky Experience podcast in 2023. “And because you know that, you’ll be like, ‘Oh, it feels like this’. Maybe it adds to it.
“But I think if there’s any vibe that comes from an environment like that, it’s that the songs might be a little looser in a sense of our style.”
Elsewhere, watch The Strokes rock Coachella 2026 as Julian Casablancas makes a subtle dig at Jeff Bezos.