Photo: WENN/Gallery pics by Thanira Rates
Making Like Clockwork was a process that nearly killed Josh Homme. He came back after being declared legally dead on the operating table during surgery, then followed a long, tumultuous nerve-shredding process to record the album - their first in six years.
Festivals, album specials and promo shows aside, Queens Of The Stone Age haven't toured the UK properly since 2008. Tonight, the band return to London with the conviction of five madmen back from the brink, hell-bent on making every moment count.
From the devious rumble of the explosive of 'You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar..' into the refreshingly early classic 'No One Knows' into the cheeky bounce of 'The Lost Art Of Keeping Of A Secret' then new favourite 'My God Is The Sun' and the volatile stomp of 'Monsters In The Parasol' (take a deep breath) - you'd struggle to think of a stronger opening to any gig, ever. With a bombastic fire in their belly, QOTSA make up for the years of waiting and translate the struggle into pure energy.
"This song's about snogging in secret," snarls Homme introducing 'The Lost Art..', clearly in tune with the sold-out crowd before him: a vast wave of hip-shaking rock chicks, leather-clad blokes with awesome quiffs and dads who righteously have no shame whatsoever in losing their minds. And what better band to get lost to? QOTSA are one of the few acts on the planet who can rock without ever leaning on cliche. This is best showcased by the brilliant reimagining of Rated R cut 'In The Fade', starting with haunting acoustics before growing into one hell of a beast, blooming like a mushroom cloud. It is ace.
"We need a song that will bring us all together..make it happen Theodore," spits Homme before the iconic cowbell intro to the angry little bastard of a track 'Little Sister' begins. But we were all already 'together' - tonight is an experience of a band in their prime, firing off endless barrells of awesome. There's no lull whatsoever. The crowd even holler back the chorus to the weird and meandering dyanamics of 'Fairweather Friends', before 'Smooth Sailing' invites a whole lot of twerking (yes, really).
By the time the first set ends with the pelvic thrust of 'Sick Sick Sick' and the modern classic of 'Go With The Flow', it's abundantly clear you're experiencing one of the best live bands on the planet right now - a fact they ram down your throat with the hedonistic anthem 'Feel Good Hit Of The Summer' and the drummers' orgasm of 'A Song For The Dead'. Tonight was well worth the wait.
Often the best music is born of pain and patience - the result is sheer unadulterated pleasure. Ladies and gentlemen, Queens Of The fuckin' Stone Age.
Queens Of The Stone Age played:
You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, but I Feel Like a Millionaire
No One Knows
The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret
My God Is the Sun
Monsters in the Parasol
I Sat by the Ocean
…Like Clockwork
In The Fade
If I Had a Tail
Kalopsia
Little Sister
Fairweather Friends
Smooth Sailing
Make It Wit Chu
I Appear Missing
Sick, Sick, Sick
Go With the Flow
Encore:
The Vampyre of Time and Memory
Feel Good Hit of the Summer
A Song for the Dead
Below: 12 exclusive photos of Queens Of The Stone Age live at Wembley Arena
