Photo of Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age by Laura Jerele
w/ Jehnny Beth
Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA) brought their signature brand of “desert rock” to Music Park on September 23rd for one of the last (and greatest) outdoor shows of the 2023 concert season. They were joined by industrial pop artist Jehnny Beth and Swedish dance punk ruffians Viagra Boys, who are the opening acts for the second leg of the QOTSA’s 2023 national tour. The St. Louis date preceded an appearance at Louder Than Life Fest in Louisville the following day (September 24th).
Jehnny Beth first rose to prominence as the vocalist of the UK band Savages, who released two well-received albums before Beth ultimately split from the group to embark on a solo career. Her solo career found her transitioning from the angular post-punk of her previous band to sleek pop with industrial and electronic overtones, while still maintaining the Gothic atmosphere of her earlier work. Although her recorded music is quite maximal in its style and production, the stage show for her opening set was rather minimalistic (which is often the case for an opening act on a tour as big as this). There was no backdrop or other visuals besides an occasional bit of strobe lighting.
Beth was joined by a bassist and keyboardist who matched her impressive dance moves, although most of the music, other than Beth’s vocals, was pre-recorded. It’s not the kind of act that would normally open for a hard rock band, but Beth is an incredibly passionate performer and was ultimately able to win over the crowd with her potent sexuality and charisma. I would recommend her to both fans of her band Savages and other alternative pop artists like Poppy.
“We are descendents of some of the worst vikings from Scandinavia,” said Viagra Boys’ heavily tattooed, impressively beer-gutted frontman Sebastian Murphy as they took to the stage. I had last seen VB play almost exactly a year prior, when they headlined a sold-out show at Red Flag in October 2022. The band has been touring almost non-stop since then, although the bizarre swagger of Murphy and his comrades doesn’t seem to have diminished a bit.
A lot of the VB staples that delighted me to no end the first time I saw them were present last week as well: the freeform saxophone solo from Oskar Carls, jorts-wearing synth player Elias Junqvist wading into the crowd with his keytar, Murphy giving bizarre, semi-improvised introductions to songs as he described a dream about “surfing with your mom.” Seeing them in an outdoor stadium did somewhat diminish the party-like atmosphere of seeing them in a packed midsize venue like Red Flag. That said, a VB show still remains one of the most purely entertaining concert experiences out there, and I am incredibly grateful this delightfully goofy band will get even more exposure from touring with an act like QOTSA, delivering lines like “psychedelic amphetamines, put it in your butt” in stadiums across this great nation.
QOTSA have always had a reputation as a no-nonsense, rampantly perfectionist band—it should also be acknowledged that frontman Josh Homme is rather notorious for a history of aggressive behavior and outbursts at past shows. Happily, it was all “Smooth Sailing” last Saturday, as the well-oiled QOTSA machine delivered one incredibly tight performance after another. The set kicked off on a high note with “No One Knows,” one of the band’s first big radio hits and the song that likely introduced them to many. The band is currently touring in support of their latest album In Times New Roman, which naturally featured heavily in the setlist, although every QOTSA record was represented with at least one song (even “Avon,” a cut from their ‘98 debut album that they rarely play live).
Homme and the rest of the band were in a very professional mode, with only a little interaction between songs as Homme thanked the crowd and acknowledged how stoned he was at one point. The stage design featured a display of triangular lights that really looked terrific (I am consistently impressed with how good the lighting and stage setups are at Music Park). QOTSA is an incredibly versatile band both in the studio and on the stage, and it is always impressive to see them transition from a “lighters in the air” ballad like “Make It Wit Chu” to the mechanical “robot rock” of Songs for the Deaf. The band ended the night with an absolutely ripping performance “Song for the Dead,” a terrific set closer with its turn-on-a-dime thrashing and false stops and a phenomenal punctuation mark to the summer concert season at Music Park.
QOTSA’s US tour wraps up later this month with a performance at Aftershock Fest in Sacramento, CA, before heading to Europe in November. | David Von Nordheim
Queens of the Stone Age’s “The End is Nero” Tour
*w/ Viagra Boys and Jehnny Beth
10.02.23 – Portland, OR @ Veterans Memorial Coliseum *
10.03.23 – Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum *
10.04.23 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena *
10.06.23 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium *
10.08.23 – Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival
10.23.23 – Guadalajara, MX @ Coordenada
11.04.23 – Amsterdam, NL @ Ziggo Dome
11.05.23 – Esch-sur-Alzette, LU @ Rockhal
11.07.23 – Paris, FR @ Accor Arena
11.08.23 – Frankfurt, DE @ Jahrhunderthalle
11.09.23 – Berlin, DE @ Max-Schmeling-Halle
11.11.23 – Dusseldorf, DE @ Mitsubishi Electric Halle
11.12.23 – Antwerp, BE @ Sportpaleis
11.14.23 – Manchester, UK @ AO Arena
11.15.23 – London, UK @ The O2
11.18.23 – Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro
11.19.23 – Birmingham, UK @ Resorts World Arena
11.20.23 – Stockton-on-Tees, UK @ Globe Theatre
11.22.23 – Dublin, IE @ 3Arena
