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Six years after their last album, Queens of the Stone Age are back in a big way on their “The End is Nero” tour, this evening playing to a sold-out audience at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre. The “Nero” is obviously a play on words, but no more so than the title of their new album, “In Times New Roman…”
The band began with a fiery set of favorites, leading with their massive hit “No One Knows.” “Sick, Sick, Sick” and “Smooth Sailing” followed, and from then on, only the weary took a seat the rest of the show. The band played five of their new songs in the set, and they feel right at home with the band’s older material. Of those, “Paper Machete” and “Straight Jacket Fitting” stood out.
Leader/singer/songwriter Josh Homme’s energy was contagious. Recently recovered from cancer, it’s obvious he’s taking joy in his life and career now that the end is not as Nero as it may have seemed. It’s obvious he loves the audience, because he told them many times during song intros.
Highlights included “In the Fade” which was dedicated to former bandmate Mark Lanegan which had heads bobbing throughout the theater, and an cappella ending to “Emotion Sickness.” The band knows how to mix it up. But the real highlight was “Make it With Chu.” This is a great song with an earworm hook that can’t be ignored, perfect for setting up the audience for an extended singalong. After essentially covering the song, the band kept a groove in muted tones while Homme soloed extensively which all but resolved in the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You.” Eight minutes? 10? Don’t know. It’s the highlight of the show, in part for the humor in which it was played, and worth going for that alone.
Other fun interactions included that “If I Had a Tail” was his favorite band song, offering that he didn’t really have a reason for it but just liked it. Maybe it was for his blistering guitar solo at the end. Whether than was an option to actually not hear “Misfit Love” was unclear, but he had the audience vote on either that or a new song.
Homme introduced “Made to Parade” almost apologetically to those who work in a cubicle, who he still appreciates as fans, but turned the corner on that with essentially, “Fuck the MAN!” I don’t know who the man is, or if he was in the audience, but there were plenty of middle fingers pointed around the audience for bosses everywhere.
Homme did himself and everyone a favor by avoiding the tired exercise of exiting a stage to return for an encore. The non-encore encore included four songs (it could have been three; he had the audience vote) song, a killer mini-set had it been served up separately. For Straight Jacket, Homme set aside his guitar and prowled the stage. Given his moves in the video for “The Way You Used to Do,” it’s surprising he doesn’t do more of that during a concert. The band finished strong with “A Song for the Dead,” which he introduced as a song that only QotSA could play. Likely right. Powerful stuff.
Also, kudos to the lighting, which included a triangular roof of sorts above the band. In addition to the colors and movement, it had a sort of temple look to it, which was well placed in the Fox given its design and Masonic background.
This is a great tour to catch, which continues in the U.S. into October before heading overseas.
Setlist:
