Queens of the Stone Age Still Reign Supreme
By Alex Rewey
E-mail
Print- Share on Facebook
-
Seed Newsvine
- Text size:
This charisma fueled the band as a whole. As the band snaked through fan favorites like “Little Sister,” “Burn the Witch,” and “Sick, Sick, Sick,” Men, women, girls, and boys could all be found losing themselves in the pit
Under last Wednesday’s full moon, modern rock conundrums Queens of the Stone Age filled the Rave with their unique brand of hypnotic rock that would make even the most trained an docile dog hop the fence to run wild with the pack.
This summer saw the release of QotSA’s fifth studio album, “Era Vulgaris” to generally positive reviews. The album was a departure from their previous effort Lullabies to Paralyze, which lead singer Josh Homme has proclaimed numerous times to be one of the lower points in the band’s career.
Playing under jeweled chandeliers and candelabras in the Rave Hall, the show maintained a distinctly intimate and hedonistic atmosphere. The set list represented their entire catalogue of concise, audacious, and feral sound, anything but their much detested pop culture label of “stoner rock.”
The show began with “Regular John,” the consistently raucous anthem that opened their self-titled debut album in 1998. Homme is the only consistent member of the band, which in the past has featured contributions by Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl, and Dean Ween of Ween. A lineup shuffle is often cited as the cause for the stutter of “Lullabies to Paralyze” after their wildly successful third album, “Songs for the Deaf.”
The current lineup, featuring former Danzig drummer Joey Castillo, is quite possibly the most consistent to date. “Turnin’ on the Screw” from their latest album was performed with wonderful precision, despite the song’s inherent delirium.
Overcoming the typical Rave sound hurtles, songs like the mystic “I Think I Lost My Headache,” and their latest single, “3’s & 7’s” became a deafeningly riotous spectacle. Entertainer to every degree, Josh Homme sauntered across the stage as one of the last true rockstars of the contemporary music scene. Gifted with the Midas touch, as seen with Homme’s successful side band “Eagles of Death Metal,” and a characteristically volatile streak, Homme stands out with the likes of Jack White and others from the arid desert of modern rock.
This charisma fueled the band as a whole. As the band snaked through fan favorites like “Little Sister,” “Burn the Witch,” and “Sick, Sick, Sick,” Men, women, girls and boys could all be found losing themselves in the pit.
In the midst of their typically dark, ambiguous tracks, 1970s throwback “I Wanna Make It Wit Chu” played like a testament to the missing fun and sexuality from today’s rock and roll.
Despite a characteristic outburst by Homme over a thrown lit cigarette, the band sustained a trance like persistence, a treat for the eyes as much as the ears. Disappointingly though, new classics like “I’m Designer” and old favorites “No One Knows” and “Go with the Flow” were sadly absent. Also curiously concluding the night was “Song for the Dead,” an apocalyptically grandiose track off their third album that simply does not translate well live.
Nevertheless, Homme played the crowd like a second instrument and the all seemed to fall under his spell quite easily. The show played as a welcome second helping for those in attendance (and those of us stuck in horrendous traffic) for QotSA’s opening set for Rage Against the Machine at Alpine Valley in late August.
QotSA’s progressive sound with a nostalgic twang, a treasure of Americana, seemed to say with delightful decadence, “This is what rock and roll should be.”


> Comments