Member and die-hard QOTSA fan EmilyJean writes:
After a successful run with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones in Them Crooked Vultures, the lead singer Josh Homme reportedly nearly died during leg surgery in 2010. But he's back and writing the next chapter of his high-octane rock band by returning back to where it all began.
Queens Of The Stone Age - celebrating the reissue of their 1998 self-titled debut - performed the original album in its entirety (albeit not in sequence) before a frenzied crowd . And from the moment the band opened with the heavy, hard-hitting and relentless Regular John, you could tell they were running on all cylinders.
Backstage, the flow of booze was impressive. Even we passholders got in on the act. Out front, the swigs were kept to a minimum for most of the show, mainly because Queens Of The Stone Age rarely let up on the intensity or power of their performance. Whether it was the slightly more mainstream feel of If Only or the huge, bombastic blasts Homme, Van Leeuwen and drummer Joey Castillo created for Walkin' On The Sidewalks, the older material made the recent crop of radio-friendly rock nuggets seem a bit like child's play.
Aside from a few managing slightly successful crowd surfing, the audience of newer fans and diehards lapped up the punishing material such as How To Hand A Rope (A Lesson In The Lariat), a tune Homme wrote in reference to metal band Judas Priest being blamed for suicides in the 1980s.
After asking the crowd if they were having a good time, Homme and company dove into one of the evening's highlights in Mexicola prior to a quirky, retro-sounding garage-rock instrumental dubbed Hispanic Impressions that indeed made a memorable impression.
Nearing the homestretch of the album, the band definitely slowed things down with the extremely tame I Was A Teenage Hand Model yet raised the bar remarkably with You Can't Quit Me Baby that rounded off the main set.
The remainder of the evening featured Queens Of The Stone Age running through more of the recent nuggets like Sick, Sick, Sick and the slower Make It Wit Chu off of 2007's Era Vulgaris. Stopping to take requests, Homme also tossed in Infinity, a "deep cut" in the band's catalogue.
Regardless of which era fans wanted from Queens Of The Stone Age, the band delivered the old goods just as well - if not better - than the newer goods on this night.
Thanx, Em. Hope you had a designated driver.
April has arrived and the concert scene is in full swing. So many great artists and bands will be performing in the months ahead. Want to get to hang with you faves?
Sign up for a full year's worth of BackstagePassDirect for only $49.
