Queens of the Stone Age live at the Olympia Theatre

The Californian stoner rockers bring the house down

Paul Nolan, 13 Jun 2011

A psychedelic odyssey through a gonzo landscape of sex, drugs and paranoia – no, we’re not across town at the Mary Byrne and Westlife concert for Her Majesty, but rather basking in the glory of that regal outfit from Palm Desert. Queens Of The Stone Age. Josh Homme’s mob are here to play their self-titled 1998 debut in its entirety, and what a record it is – a stoner-rock masterpiece full of pulverising hard rock riffs, a formula Homme himself fondly described as “robot rock”.

Queens are right up there with Nine Inch Nails, The Prodigy and Mogwai as one of the heaviest bands I’ve ever seen live; they crank the volume up to ‘11’, letting the irresistible riffs burrow their way into your brain. The five-piece create an hallucinogenic cocktail of distorted guitars, sinister bass and ferocious drums, which plays like the soundtrack to some David Lynch-directed noir headfuck. It is absolutely brilliant, and several of the tunes are met with extended cheers.

Homme seems genuinely taken aback by the warmth of the response, and arriving back for the encore, he lights a fag – paying unsurprisingly little heed to the smoking ban introduced by Micheál Martin – and says, “We’ll play whatever you want; it’s the only way we know how to say thanks.” To our great delight, Queens then proceed to play a mini-Greatest Hits set, kicking off with the exquisite R&B boogie of ‘Make It Wit Chu’, before moving on to such monster rockers as ‘Burn The Witch’, ‘Little Sister’ and ‘Better Living Through Chemistry’.

With such a killer repertoire to call upon, the band effortlessly bring the house down. At the end, a visibly overwhelmed Homme gestures to his heart and declares, “To the rockers, the dancers, the ladies and the drinkers – thank you!” There’s no two ways about it; come December, this show will be right up there on many gig-of-the-year lists.

Paul Nolan

California desert rockers Queens Of The Stone Age have announced a February visit to the capital.

2007-10-31

Here’s the deal: ‘3s & 7s’ is an intelligent song which features the band’s trademarks biker rock riffs and some fine falsettoing by Josh Homme. So it contains the attributes that are consistent with the ever-changing line up, but in a bar brawl with any of their other tracks – even the feeble album tracks from Lullabies To Paralyze – this would be hospitalised in an instant. It’s a weak demo that somehow made it onto the album. Then was released as a single. A lead one at that. Pity.

2007-06-11

On Era Vulgaris, Josh Homme's lot manage to pull off the neat trick of sounding like no one else while tweaking their sound considerably.

2007-05-21

Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme on the firing of bandmate Nick Oliveri, the London bombings and his plan to disappear once their current tour is over

2005-08-19

As we’ve come to expect, a Queens Of The Stone Age album means a slightly foreboding, twisted journey to the heart of darkness. ‘In My Head’ isn’t quite the sharp-toothed monster that their previous single ‘Little Sister’ is, but it still bears the hallmarks of a brutal yet brilliant track – manly guitars, primal drums and a slightly ominous bassline.

2005-06-10

As we’ve come to expect, a Queens Of The Stone Age album means a slightly foreboding, twisted journey to the heart of darkness. ‘In My Head’ isn’t quite the sharp-toothed monster that their previous single ‘Little Sister’ is, but it still bears the hallmarks of a brutal yet brilliant track – manly guitars, primal drums and a slightly ominous bassline.

2005-06-10

There’s no arguing that greater lyrical invention would make the Queens a more enticing prospect, but they rock it out like few bands alive.

2005-04-07

Spoken of in hushed, reverential tones by an entire generation of aspiring guitarslingers, QOTSA are modern-day six-string gods, utterly fluent in post-Zep/Hendrix metal, and heavily informed by a certain strain of early-‘90s stoner rock (Soundgarden, Alice in Chains) though without the glum, humourless self-absorption that made most of the latter ilk such a charmless proposition.

2005-04-06

'Little Sister' is a distinctly underwhelming record, based like Beck’s on nothing more than a half baked idea of a song.

2005-03-07

Heaviness is in the attitude, not just the sound. The Queens Of The Stone Age explain why primal music hits hard.

2003-10-16

MCD deny that Queens Of The Stone Age have cancelled their Slane appearance

2003-04-07

From badass bunnies via political incorrectness to the mightiest drummer in rock ’n’ roll, it’s all in an interview’s work for Queens Of The Stone Age mainman Josh Homme.

2003-01-06

Lights flick on, sound kicks in, and the sonic sadism of the Queens Of The Stone Age is unleashed upon the crowd

2002-11-11

Songs for the Deaf takes a slightly less trodden direction than it’s predecessor Rated R: still as cacophonous, rampantly bass-heavy and gut wrenching as you’d expect, but without the polish.

2002-09-02

In a year where Miss Selfridge is flogging Motorhead t-shirts and heavy rock's most talked-about proponents are sportzmetallers with masks and vomiting fetishes, where to next? is an increasingly valid question. Tuneful, opiated and complex, Queens Of The Stone Age are looking increasingly like the answer.

2000-09-14

hotpress.com

• News
• Music
• Features
• Politics
• Movies
• Comedy
• Lifestyle & Sex
• Audio & Video
• Photo Galleries
• What's On
• Shop
• Competitions
• Hot Press Covers Collection
• Messageboard
• Industry Listings
• Archive
• Caught In The Net
• Buy Hot Press Back Issues
• Activate Hot Press Gift/Hot Box

Blogs on hotpress.com

• Anne Sexton: Sexed Up
• Gabby Sanderson: I'm With The Band
• Peter Murphy: Blog Of Revelations
• Roe McDermott: Screen Lover
• Rob Smith: Footbal El Mundo
• Drink Aware Festival News

Additional Sites on hotpress.com

• The Music Show
• The Jagermeister Freezer Sessions
• Hot Press Books
• Hot Press Rock Photo
• The Philip Lynott Exhibition
• Jamie Lawson: 'The Last Time'

Join Us

Contact Us

Hot Press,
13 Trinity Street,
Dublin 2.
Rep. Of Ireland
Tel: +353 (1) 241 1500

Email:info@hotpress.ie

Click here for more contact information.

Hot Press always welcomes feed back so if you've got something to tell us click here.

Advertise With Us

For more detail on how to advertise with Hot Press click here or call us on +353 (1) 241 1540