Queens of the Stone Age
8 out of 10 - Great. Good show.
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
Ventura Theatre, Ventura, CA
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My live Queens of the Stone Age experiences to date:
1. The band opening for Courtney Love where (shock) she was such a raving bitch that she told the crowd we were just a bunch of trust fund babies, and that everyone in her band had to work minimum-wage jobs at one time
2. The All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in L.A. last year, when singer Josh Homme, looking like he could barely stand up, took the stage and sang a Stooges song with Mike Watt
3. Coachella last year, when I stood through what seemed like a 2 hr Jack Johnson set (sorry dude, your music is cool, but you played forever) just so I could secure my place for Siouxsie who was next on the bill, meanwhile QOTSA were rocking on the other stage, with Dave Grohl on drums no less. Come to think of it, Siouxsie was a bitch too, and told the crowd we were all a bunch of fucking sheep.
So my time had come. This concert was going to make up for all of this crap.
I missed the opening acts, arriving about 20 minutes before QOTSA started. It made me happy to see the Ventura Theater so packed, and for such a cool event.
The band put on an awesome live show, there is not much else you can say. They opened with “You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire,” the first track on the new record Songs For the Deaf, and I had a feeling they would. This really set the tone for the rest of the show—driving, frenetic, visceral.
Joey Castillo’s drumming is the perfect complement to the band. He had some big shoes to fill and did so admirably. Bassist Nick Oliveri is also fun to watch; he has some serious energy and presence, as well as a very nice voice when he is not screaming. Homme hung back a bit, sharing frontman responsibilities with Mark Lanegan, whose excellent voice made up for the fact that he looked pretty stiff. One of the most amazing things about the show (and perhaps I just didn’t notice this before at their concerts) was that the keyboardist played pedal steel on many of the songs. This should have been so “wrong,” but the effect was quite the opposite-- it worked brilliantly. And here I was thinking I’d never get the chance to see pedal steel played live in super heavy, 70’s-influenced rock band.
I recognized most of the material from the latest record as well as a few songs from the previous release, R, like the poppy “Lost Art Of Keeping a Secret,” and the ode to vices, “Feel Good Hit Of the Summer.” Speaking of which, I talked to a lot of people during the show, and one of the recurring themes was whether QOTSA are brilliant or just take a lot drugs. Who knows. But it was great to see the band in such a small venue compared to that whole Coachella scene, which I will be braving again in about a month from now, eager for more pedal steel-wielding, furious pop-prog-metal.
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