The Strokes Play Two Songs From "Reality Awaits" on Saturday Night Live

The Strokes performed two songs from their album Reality Awaits on Saturday Night Live on November 7, 2026, opening with "Lonely in the Future."

The New York band was the show's musical guest, the act that plays during the episode. NBC had announced the booking earlier in the week and describes The Strokes as a five-piece. Rolling Stone reported that the Saturday night appearance was the band's fifth as musical guest. Their previous one came in 2020, when they promoted their album The New Abnormal.

The second song was "Going Shopping." Actor Walton Goggins joined the band on bongo drums, a pair of small hand drums, for that number. Guitarist Nick Valensi was not on stage for the performance, according to the same Rolling Stone report. Valensi had earlier taken a temporary break from the band's summer tour, and Steve Schiltz of Longwave had stepped in for him on that run of dates.

Reality Awaits has nine tracks and was produced by Rick Rubin, a producer who helps shape a record's sound and arrangements. The band began recording it with Rubin in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, in 2022. Additional sessions took place at Shangri-La and The Mansion studios in Southern California, Rolling Stone reported.

Those dates stretch the making of the record across several years and two regions. An album can change a great deal between the first session and the final mix, and the studio history is part of why a release takes as long as it does.

For viewers who caught the broadcast, the appearance offered a look at two of the nine songs in front of a live audience. For everyone else, the clips shared after the episode are the easiest way to hear the material. Anyone looking for the album's release schedule, chart position or sales figures should check the band's label and the chart that tracks them.