After fulfilling a dream by playing a gig in one of the weirdest and most original locations it’s possible to imagine, what comes next? That was the question facing Josh Homme after Queens Of The Stone Age’s landmark show in the deathly depths of the Paris Catacombs, captured on the Alive In The Catacombs short film. While that setlist was specifically conceived for its unique subterranean location with a focus on QOTSA’s quieter, more intense cuts, Homme felt it was worth bringing the show to a wider and more warm-blooded audience than the bones and skulls of millions of ex-Parisiens.
The resulting Catacombs Tour feels more like a theatrical event than a rock show, retaining a sense of intimacy even within the vast dome of the Royal Albert Hall. It’s divided into three acts, each distinguished by different lighting to match the shift in vibes.
The opening act sees Homme and the band on acoustic instruments bathed in cool blue lights at the front of the stage. They are joined by two violins and a cello, with Homme acting as a slightly psychotic jazzy bandleader, crooning his way through choice cuts from the QOTSA catalogue, interacting with audience and ushers as he dances around the auditorium swinging a giant flashlight. Songs are stripped back and reimagined, not simply acoustic renditions of amplified originals. While there’s a cabaret mood, the highlight is “Suture Up Your Future”, recast as a lost classic by a synthpop duo.
The second act amps things up a notch or ten as the lighting turns blood red. Now there’s a larger string and brass section at the back of the stage, while the rest of the Queens play percussion until they are asked to pick up their guitars and keyboard. The music in this section gets progressively more intense as Homme breaks into long, rambling monologues and walks among the crowd brandishing a butcher’s cleaver – one that’s not a prop, as he proves when he buries it, point first, on the floor of the stage.
It’s a vivid performance, with the orchestra and percussion growing increasingly deranged and discordant through Songs For The Deaf’s “Mosquito Song” and …Like Clockwork’s “Keep Your Eyes Peeled” until it culminates in “Spinning In Daffodils”, a Bowie-esque number originally recorded with Homme’s side-group Them Crooked Vultures, that here feels almost satanic.
Warm orange light heralds the start of the third act, as QOTSA take on a more conventional shape and sound, much to the relief of those in the audience who came expecting a typical rock show. The strings and horns are still scraping and blowing away, but during “Hideaway” and “The Vampyre Of Time And Memory” the crowd can release some of the tension that built up during that violent second act, before the band introduce an unexpected new song, “Easy Street” – a sort of easy-listening pop flamenco that’s just about the catchiest thing they play all night. There’s even an invitation to clap along, although the complexity of the rhythm defeats most of those present.
“Fortress” and “…Like Clockwork” then provide a punchy outro, a reward to the audience for having sat through one of the most unusual shows by a major rock band they’ll see this year. Not that many are complaining. Homme is a captivating presence and works the stage with verve, prowling through the audience, climbing the balcony behind the stage and managing to make the huge hall feel almost as close and unsettling as the Paris catacombs.
But the band can’t resist one final Victor Hugo-esque touch. Homme returns to the stage for an encore, an acapella version of “Long Slow Goodbye” from Lullabies To Paralyze, before he’s joined by bassist Mikey Shoes. That’s when the Royal Albert Hall’s giant pipe organ suddenly fires up, played flamboyantly by a mysterious figure high above the stage with his back to the audience. Is it the phantom of the opera? A ghost from the catacombs made flesh? No, it’s Matt Berry.
And with that, Queens Of The Stone Age say farewell to London as Mark Lanegan’s “One Hundred Days” serenades the departing audience over the PA. From the ridiculous, to the sublime.
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
