Queens of the Stone Age Alive in the Catacombs is a wondrous pivot that sees the band play to their largest audience ever in the catacombs of Paris.
Alive in the Catacombs was recorded in 2024 shortly after QOTSA frontman Josh Homme cancelled all their scheduled summer concerts because he required emergency surgery.
Due to the strict rules around recording in the catacombs, the band were forced to trade in their usual desert rock sound for something more acoustic. Hazey guitars are swapped for a trio of strings; even the band’s signature tinny drums are traded in for chains and chop-sticks.
The resulting sound is wonderfully unique. The percussion is gentle and the strings elevate Homme’s infatuating vocals to new heights- it’s Queens of the Stone Age at their rawest.
Though Alive in the Catacombs is only composed of six songs, the setlist is expertly chosen and covers a majority of Queens’ entire catalogue. There’s a focus placed on their more mellow tracks, especially from their last three albums.
That’s not to say there’s no surprises as the performance opens up with Homme singing Running Joke, a B-side off of their 2007 album Era Vulgaris. The song is mixed with Paper Machete, a modern fan-favourite from their latest album In Times New Roman.
When speaking about the Alive in the Catacombs performance, Homme described the experience as haunting but, “If you’re going to be haunted, surrounded by several million dead people is the place. I’ve never felt so welcome in my life.”
For their last three albums QOTSA was focused on telling stories of death and the blurred lines in between, so there’s really no better place than the catacombs to perform such work.
Homme and the band finish the set with I Never Came. The song is performed in a small corridor within the catacombs which creates another switch in sound. The sound bounces between the crammed walls and results in a performance of the track that could never have been done anywhere else.
As the credits roll on the film, Homme sings a currently unreleased song entitled Insignificant Other. It’s unknown at this time if the song is a teaser for a new album or not.
Alive in the Catacombs is a must listen for fans of the desert rock legends, but it’s also an all time contender for greatest concert film ever made.
Alive in the Catacombs will be released on streaming Friday 13 June.
Featured Image Credit: Matador Records
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