Location: Munich / Zenith Halle / Germany
Concert date: November 5, 2013
Attendance: 4,000
Ticket price: €50.00
At 10 in the morning, our crew of about 20 fans of the alternative music scene set off for Munich, specifically the Zenith Halle, where Queens of the Stone Age were playing on November 5, 2013. The trip to Munich went smoothly, interrupted now and then by a few stops: bladder relief and the obligatory cigarette in the fresh air. We passengers brightened up the gloom of the “idyll” that surrounds practically every German autobahn with a selection of tracks from the QotSA (Queens of the Stone Age) discography, as well as Eagles of Death Metal, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, etc. Despite a slight numbness, we reached our destination a few hours before showtime; from the outside, the Zenith Halle doesn’t exactly look like a gem among concert venues. The biggish hall in the middle of an industrial zone holds 3-4 thousand people, so a fairly intimate gig was to be expected.
After a bit of chatter the lights dim, the background music fades and Band of Skulls step onto the stage without hesitation. The English trio from Southampton delivers a loud, energetic mix of garage, indie and alt rock. Masden’s vocals burn through the PA almost as fiercely as his heavily modulated guitar, backed by a rhythm section steeped in Led Zeppelin-style arrangement touches (drummer Hayward’s triplet wizardry) and the seductively full bass tone coming from the gentle fingers of bassist Emma Richardson. The one annoying thing about Band of Skulls was perhaps the painful, booming sound (most likely down to the venue); vocal and instrumental details got dimly lost in the arrangement parts where the band gave it everything. Without hesitation the band played its 45 minutes, a mix of atmosphere and distinctive determination, professionally; the crowd only gave a lukewarm clap in greeting.
While I’m wondering how the hell the sound crew is going to fix the acoustic problems of the Munich hall, the tech crew is already on stage checking instruments, mics, monitor placement, etc. Before I can finish my thought coherently, a cinematic countdown kicks off on the big screen behind the stage. Theodore mounts his saddle behind the drums, Fertita retreats into his fortress of keyboards and guitars, Van Leeuwen nonchalantly strolls to his spot, Schuman proudly lifts his head and turns toward the drums, Homme takes the center position (to thunderous applause and cheers) and, along with everyone else, turns toward the falling numbers on the screen. We count down the last ten numbers together, and at zero Theodore starts mercilessly pounding out the intro to YouThink I Ain’t Worth a Dollar, but I Feel Like a Millionare. The previously calm and meek German crowd literally goes nuts at the syncopated guitar entry. Wave after wave of limbs starts flailing from every side. A body gets flung overhead now and then, planting a shoe in a neck or a finger in an eye by way of greeting. A good start, which QotSA improve even more with No One Knows. Theodore treats all the drum connoisseurs to an explosive performance, as well as his own interpretation of First It Giveth. The previously disorganized mosh pit jumps and pounds in unison with the rhythm at the chorus. QotSA keep the opening punch going with Burn The Witch, accompanied by near-stadium singing. The band, despite the unfixed booming sound from the stage, is by now well warmed up; Homme’s vocals have finally regained that good old sound, Leeuwen thrashes his head uncontrollably and conjures up atmosphere with his lap steel guitar, and the rhythm base pulls the band forward relentlessly; most likely thanks to the newest member (Jon Theodore), who holds the band in line without any sugarcoating. The exact opposite of Castillo’s approach to playing, whose speed often slipped out of control. After the opening classics QotSA move on to the newer part of the setlist, namely tracks from their latest record …Like Clockwork. After a short address they keep the fire going with the apocalyptic My God Is the Sun. The crowd took the chunk of new record well, as it did the confessional I Sat by the Ocean. Despite a minor slip in the opening riff, the band takes us into a danceable mood; the mass of unruly flailing limbs calms down and sways dreamily in the hot atmosphere of the new QotSA. The calm is stretched out even further by …Like Clockwork, during which Homme, at a quasi-cabaret piano setup on stage, releases the last tense muscle in the crowd. Next up is If I Had a Tail, which doesn’t get quite uniform enthusiasm. The reworked In the Fade, on the other hand, does. An unexpected song breaks up the run of newer material at just the right time, followed by a wacky shot of moonshine from the Era Vulgaris record, Misfit Love; nostalgia is definitely wafting off the stage. Kalopsia, a sinister-Hawaiian spasm, opens the door to …Like Clockwork once more, and Little Sister again spurs the crowd to animal revelry. There’s a slight dip in concentration and energy (despite the crowd going wild) that runs through all of Fairweather Friends, the pointy peak of …Like Clockwork (both in nature and in performance). After the piano break, Homme picks up the guitar again for the psychedelic Smooth Sailing, Sick Sick Sick, proves his improvisational and innovative chops in Make It Wit Chu, a seductive bluesy anomaly from the Era Vulgaris record, as well as in the Eastern-flavored Better Living Through Chemistry. With the latter QotSA again serve up their unique improvisational style, which almost hypnotizes the audience. This is where the true face of QotSA shows, the real heartbeat of what they do. Playing with arrangements, saturation and the sheer mass of the moment. Judging by the faces, the whole crowd was more than satisfied. To say goodbye, the band shatters the dreaminess with a perfectly timed Go With the Flow.
The last drops of sweat; the band quickly retreats backstage and, to loud cheers from the crowd, comes back out. Two more tracks from …Like Clockwork follow: the somewhat unconvincing The Vampyre of Time and Memory and I Appear Missing, a song written as an account of an accident through the singer’s eyes. Under a waterfall of lights and roaring, QotSA close explosively with A Song for the Dead, the signature on two hours of sweating and screaming.
After the gig and a few hours’ drive back to Slovenia, I end up in the early morning in the parking lot in front of Kolosej with mixed feelings. The setlist had a good balance of older songs and newer contributions. Surely plenty of …Like Clockwork tracks could have been swapped for more intimate pieces from the legendary Lullabies to Paralyse, the experimental Era Vulgaris or the sharp Rated R. Post-gig conversations reveal two things: the Rated R-Era Vulgaris period remains far in the past, but there are still unreworked gems to be found in the rich …Like Clockwork. The whole event offered listeners of the broader genre a quality, dynamic experience, and QotSA fans a bittersweet aftertaste. Maybe Queens of the Stone Age will one day decide to visit Glastonbury or Križanke, once the …Like Clockwork promo cycle is over.
Setlist
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE:
1. You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar, but I Feel Like a Millionaire
2. No One Knows
3. First It Giveth
4. Burn the Witch
5. My God Is the Sun
6. I Sat by the Ocean
7. …Like Clockwork
8. If I Had a Tail
9. In the Fade
10. Misfit Love
11. Kalopsia
12. Little Sister
13. Fairweather Friends
14. Smooth Sailing
15. Make It Wit Chu
16, Sick, Sick, Sick
17. Better Living Through Chemistry
18. Go With the Flow
—encore—
19. The Vampyre of Time and Memory
20. I Appear Missing
21. A Song for the Dead
