Queens of the Stone Age : Lupos, Providence 10/9/07

Queens of the Stone Age
Tuesday October 9, 2007
Lupos Heartbreak Hotel, Providence Rhode Island

Support - Retisonic

Queens of the Stone Age kicked off the latest leg of their US tour last night in Providence. The surprisingly undersold venue was treated to a set list that played heavily off the bands latest released Era Vulgaris. The ravenous fans ate right off the plate.

Personally I am a big fan of the band. If you check out one of my trade pages (scroll to Queens of the Stone Age) you will see I have a sickness.

The latest album didn't really hit me at the outset and trading live shows has changed a lot so I hadn't heard much of the new material live. I was actually somewhat "ehh" on going to the show.

In the end I was damn glad I did.

The band took the stage shortly after 9pm. Facing the stage way over to my left was Troy Van Leeuwen. The always impeccably dress guitar, keyboard and utility man has been a great constant the last few tours. To his left was keyboardist and guitar player Dean Fertita. On the drums was the always shirtless, and always heavy hitting Joey Castillo on drums. Front man, guitar and all around leader of the band Josh Homme in the center. To his left was bassist Michael "Mikey Shoes" Shuman.

Opening with "Burn the Witch" from the 2005 Lullabies to Paralyze the band wasted little time. The light show was more expansive than in past tours and the band really went full tilt. "Misfit Love" from the new cd was next and really did a lot to sell me on what I had been missing on the new release.

**mp3s have been taken down**
The setlist was
Burn the Witch
Misfit Love
In to the Hollow
Little Sister
Battery Acid
River in the Road
In the fade
Turnin' On The Screw
Do it Again
3's and 7's
Avon
Make it wit chu
Sick Sick Sick
Go with the flow
I Think I lost My Headache
Regular John
--------------
A Song for the Dead


The show flowed nicely and Josh, usually one for some chatter, kept it short. He invited us to get drunk and dance and that was really about it, barring the obligatory "thank yous". The band really seemed to hit their stride a little later in the set really playing off one another. The band seemed to take some songs in directions they had not taken them before. Some had longer intros and others had better segue and jams coming out of them.

17 songs in about 75 minutes..the band was cooking and was really down to business.

The pro's - the playing. The band is a good unit. QOTSA have always been a revolving door of musicians (for better or worse) so it was nice the band was really clicking. Also Misfit Love..only took me to the second tune to realize I needed to listen to the cd again.

The Con's - the brevity of the set..at least in its feel. Also Make it Wit Chu is a dull tune and placed in sort of a bad place in the set. Also, the girl at the merch booth demanding a free shirt because the one she bought earlier had been "stolen". F- there lady.

Overall it was a good show and money well spent for me personally. If you want to find out more the bands main page is here. They have a myspace page here. See them on tour. Check the dates here.