Queens of the Stone Age

(Originally Published on South Florida Insider)

Josh Homme and His Crew of Alternative Misfits Bring the Villains Tour to South Florida – Review of the Queens of the Stone Age concert at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater in Miami Beach, FL

Story by: Gleb Barabanov

Venerable Sludge-Rock veterans Queens of the Stone Age made a rare Florida appearance on May 1st at the lovely Bayfront Park Amphitheater, a venue that I thought was a perfect choice for a concert on that wonderfully chilly night. Supporting their latest album Villains, the Palm Desert native rock group was a welcome change of pace for a city that normally prides itself on being a non-stop techno free-for-all. Opening up for the main event was British alternative band Wolf Alice, who played songs from their newest album Visions of a Life.

As Wolf Alice finished their set and the techs disassembled their gear, smoke began to pour out onto the stage as Josh Homme and his gang of miscreant maestros took to the stage. Backed by ex-Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore and ex-Perfect Circle guitarist Troy van Leeuwen, the frontman exploded into the first couple of songs of their set, new additions The Way That You Used To and Feet Don’t Fail Me. Surrounded by large LED light beams on what looked like pogo sticks (made for the band members to be able to kick back and forth) as well as a constantly engaged fog machine, the stage created a stunning silhouette effect that made the band stand out in stark contrast to the flashing colorful lights going off behind them.

After showcasing a few songs from their latest album Villains, the group launched into an impressive set of crowd pleasers, including You Cant Quit Me Baby, No One Knows, Make it Wit Chu, and I Sat By the Ocean (which was coincidentally sang right by the ocean). By the time the group was done with their setlist, almost every album was represented, with the exception of 2000’s Rated R, After what felt like an all-too short time on stage, Josh and the gang departed to the chants of “Queens, Queens, Queens!” before returning for one more song, and extended version of their famous track A Song for the Dead before departing one last time for good. It was an amazing show and it seemed like the audience has a fantastic time as well, with most of the crowd chanting back every word. Here’s hoping it won’t take the revered rockers another four and a half years to come back to balmy beaches of Miami.