WEST LOOP — The Strokes are returning to Chicago for a one-night-only show to benefit Illinois 7th congressional candidate Kina Collins.
The Grammy Award-winning rock band is performing March 8 at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Credit Union 1 Arena with local indie band Beach Bunny and musician NNAMDI, according to a news release.
Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Friday.
The concert will also serve as a political rally for Collins, who ran for the same position against incumbent Rep. Danny K. Davis in 2022. The Illinois Primary takes place on March 19.
The Strokes last performed in Chicago that year, in sold-out benefit concert for Collins at the Metro in Wrigleyville.
Collins and Julian Casablancas, lead singer for The Strokes, met at a house party in New York, where the two hit it off, according to Variety. They bonded over Collins’ progressive platform, according to a news release.
Collins, who is from the Austin neighborhood on the West Side, is running as a Democrat with a platform centered on gun violence prevention. She is shooting survivor and leads a gun violence prevention nonprofit. She previously served on President Joe Biden’s gun violence prevention task force.
“We believe Kina will do a wonderful job representing Chicagoans of all classes, creeds, color and background to build a stronger, more united and more just world when she gets to Washington, D.C.,” Casablancas said in a statement. “We need more people like her in government, and hopefully this is the beginning of a much-needed groundswell of justice-minded citizens replacing the old guard of corporate-approved officials who have left us with mediocrity and inequality for far too long.”
The Strokes played a “huge role” in activating voters in 2022, Collins said in the news release. She said she’s hoping to mobilize them again.
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