2008 Woodie Awards
Queens of the Stone Age plays to rabid fans at the Factory
Joseph Aprill '08
Issue date: 10/3/07 Section: Entertainment
- Page 1 of 1
While everyone was busy on the Parkway last Saturday, Sept. 29, one of the coolest concerts of the year was going down at the Electric Factory. The mighty Queens of the Stone Age have returned.
The show started with two opening acts that were polar opposites of each other. Dax Riggs started off with a sad attempt to be a poor man's version of the night's headliners while trying in vain to include every modern commercial rock stereotype they could conjure. I'm sorry to say, but their performance fell about as short as their two minute songs.
The next band, Howlin' Rain, took the stage and transported the whole venue into another dimension (i.e. the late'60s early '70s). Howlin' Rain played straight up psychedelic fuzz rock reminiscent of heavy hitters like Blue Cheer, The Grateful Dead, and Jimi Hendrix. The group was short a member who was injured down in Austin, Texas, but that hardly seemed to deter them from rocking like it was 1969. Streams of sweat poured from the lead singer/guitarist's beard as he wrenched out each soulful guitar lick and bend like a mystic dancing under the full moon.
The tension was thick and so was the packed crowd as everyone waited for Queens of the Stone Age to appear. As roadies finished setting up crystal chandeliers, the band emerged with the crowd roaring and cut right into the opening track, "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar But I Feel Like a Millionaire," off of "Songs for the Deaf." What had up to that point been a relatively calm crowd at that moment erupted like Mount St. Helens. The front of the stage was rushed by an army of fans and soon the whole front half of the hall floor was enveloped in an melee of pushing and kicking. It couldn't have been called a moshpit as there was no room to even breath; rather, it was a never-ending wave of human bodies crashing into each other, all the while screaming and delighting at the display of pure rock n' roll in front of them.
After the opening number, they immediately pulled an old fan favorite out with "Feel Good Hit of the Summer," turning it halfway into a chat with the audience and then getting everyone to chant the chorus. Josh Homme, singer, guitarist, ringleader, and sole original member, seemed to be in high spirits throughout the night. Homme's usual verbal abuse of the audience was hardly missed though as the band played through a strong set that spanned their career. Classics such as "Monsters in the Parasol," "Do It Again," and "Little Sister" were joined by newer cuts off of the new album "Era Vulgaris" with songs like the discordant "Sick, Sick, Sick," the rocking "3's & 7's," and the swinging "Make It Wit Chu," which provoked even Homme's admiration as the crowd at the Electric Factory sang along perfectly. At one memorable point, a security guard tried to get a girl off of the shoulders of someone, provoking Homme to yell, "Hey, she's cool. She's cool. This is a party, after all!"
After a short break of calling it a night, Queens of the Stone Age came back out with the eerie, but groovy "Burn the Witch." The night then had its true ending as the band gave a powerful performance of "Song for the Dead." With bodies battered, bruised, and drenched in sweat, the crowd made their departure with hearts full of adrenaline rock n' roll, or perhaps it was just their ears.
The show started with two opening acts that were polar opposites of each other. Dax Riggs started off with a sad attempt to be a poor man's version of the night's headliners while trying in vain to include every modern commercial rock stereotype they could conjure. I'm sorry to say, but their performance fell about as short as their two minute songs.
The next band, Howlin' Rain, took the stage and transported the whole venue into another dimension (i.e. the late'60s early '70s). Howlin' Rain played straight up psychedelic fuzz rock reminiscent of heavy hitters like Blue Cheer, The Grateful Dead, and Jimi Hendrix. The group was short a member who was injured down in Austin, Texas, but that hardly seemed to deter them from rocking like it was 1969. Streams of sweat poured from the lead singer/guitarist's beard as he wrenched out each soulful guitar lick and bend like a mystic dancing under the full moon.
The tension was thick and so was the packed crowd as everyone waited for Queens of the Stone Age to appear. As roadies finished setting up crystal chandeliers, the band emerged with the crowd roaring and cut right into the opening track, "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar But I Feel Like a Millionaire," off of "Songs for the Deaf." What had up to that point been a relatively calm crowd at that moment erupted like Mount St. Helens. The front of the stage was rushed by an army of fans and soon the whole front half of the hall floor was enveloped in an melee of pushing and kicking. It couldn't have been called a moshpit as there was no room to even breath; rather, it was a never-ending wave of human bodies crashing into each other, all the while screaming and delighting at the display of pure rock n' roll in front of them.
After the opening number, they immediately pulled an old fan favorite out with "Feel Good Hit of the Summer," turning it halfway into a chat with the audience and then getting everyone to chant the chorus. Josh Homme, singer, guitarist, ringleader, and sole original member, seemed to be in high spirits throughout the night. Homme's usual verbal abuse of the audience was hardly missed though as the band played through a strong set that spanned their career. Classics such as "Monsters in the Parasol," "Do It Again," and "Little Sister" were joined by newer cuts off of the new album "Era Vulgaris" with songs like the discordant "Sick, Sick, Sick," the rocking "3's & 7's," and the swinging "Make It Wit Chu," which provoked even Homme's admiration as the crowd at the Electric Factory sang along perfectly. At one memorable point, a security guard tried to get a girl off of the shoulders of someone, provoking Homme to yell, "Hey, she's cool. She's cool. This is a party, after all!"
After a short break of calling it a night, Queens of the Stone Age came back out with the eerie, but groovy "Burn the Witch." The night then had its true ending as the band gave a powerful performance of "Song for the Dead." With bodies battered, bruised, and drenched in sweat, the crowd made their departure with hearts full of adrenaline rock n' roll, or perhaps it was just their ears.
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