I remember the first time I heard Queens Of The Stone Age. The year was 2002 and I’m sitting in a LAN center in Seattle playing Counter-Strike 1.4 (if that sentence is gibberish, count yourself lucky). “No One Knows” comes on over the radio and my sonic palate would be forever changed.
24 years later, and Queens of the Stone Age hasn’t been left out of a playlist I’ve ever created. Spreading the good word to every party goer who happens to mistakenly give me the aux cord after last call. For some reason “The Vampyre of Time and Memory” at 2:30 in the morning just doesn’t keep drunk people in a party mood – Huh, weird.
“Not everything that goes around, comes back around, you know?” … Like Clockwork, QOTSA
Unsurprisingly, QOTSA has a sound and discography that will end up in the hall of fame, and I never thought the day would come where I’d see them live in concert let alone be able to photograph a performance as great as what I witnessed tonight.
As a photographer and not a writer, I lack the vocabulary necessary to describe the performance the audience at the Paramount in Seattle witnessed. It went beyond a masterfully designed setlist, and far down a rabbit hole of stage craft and artistry that included an orchestra that helped push the iconic vibrations of QOTSA to the next level in such a beautiful, venue.
“People are who they really want to be in the dark, and we have the darkness to give you, and we hope you have the best F night in the dark possible.” – Josh Homme
In a sold out Paramount Theatre in Seattle, a homecoming of sorts for the band which was formed here, lead singer Josh Homme performed in a scarcely lit room with a swagger and charisma that was at times hypnotic. Filtering through the crowd with a sharpened blade in hand (yes he had a very sharp clever). Josh roamed freely around the stage interacting with band members and the audience at will.
His knife in hand, stalking through the crowd, in any other context would be cause for concern, but he returned to the stage without incident, skillfully throwing his blade into the historic floor of paramount leaving his mark in more ways than one.
To no surprise, the show ended with a standing ovation.
Check out these photos and hopefully those will speak volumes better than I can describe.
If you’re a fan of Queens of the Stone Age, finding tickets to the nearest show to you isn’t optional, it’s a life experience you should deem as required. Unlike your wedding, you will NOT regret investing in this is experience. https://qotsa.com/tour/
Setlist:
Act I
Running Joke / Paper Machete
Kalopsia
Villains of Circumstance
Suture Up Your Future
I Never Came
Act II
Someone’s in the Wolf / A Song for the Deaf / Straight Jacket Fitting
Mosquito Song
Keep Your Eyes Peeled
Spinning in Daffodils
Act III
“You Got a Killer Scene There, Man…”
Hideaway
The Vampyre of Time and Memory
Auto Pilot
Easy Street
Fortress
…Like Clockwork
Encore:
Long Slow Goodbye
One Hundred Days
