The Strokes ended their second Coachella performance on Saturday with a video montage criticizing U.S. interference abroad. Displayed during their song “Oblivius,” the footage accused the CIA of overthrowing leaders and showed recent bombings. The display marked a sharper political statement than their first weekend set.
The Strokes took the Coachella main stage for their Weekend Two headline set on April 19. As they performed the 2016 track “Oblivius”—which includes the line “What side you standing on?”—a video played behind them. It highlighted alleged CIA involvement in regime changes in countries including Chile, Bolivia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, naming leaders such as Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran, Juan Torres of Bolivia, and Salvador Allende of Chile. An image of Martin Luther King, Jr., appeared with a caption referencing a 1999 civil trial where a jury found a government conspiracy in his assassination; the Department of Justice later investigated but found no evidence of one, as noted in coverage of the event by Pitchfork.
