Aug 22

Aug 22 Review: Queens of the Stone Age at Rabbit Rabbit

There is a certain charm to a band that opens a show with its biggest hit.

While Queens of the Stone Age could have left the Aug. 16 capacity crowd at Rabbit Rabbit waiting until the end of the night to hear “No One Knows,” the veteran rockers instead knocked it out first — a sign of, well, numerous things, practically all of them complimentary.

With that choice, frontman Josh Homme and his merry band of marvelous musicians served notice that they were in Asheville to entertain, and that — at least for casual fans in attendance — there’s far more to them than one infectious jam.

Following a riotous opening set by The Armed and a sonically-rich lead-in by electro-pop mavens Phantogram, the headliners walked onstage to the tune of Peggy Lee’s “Smile.” Roughly 10 dates into The End is Nero tour — their first trek through North America since 2017 — Queens of the Stone Age was noticeably dialed in and exhibited zero signs of early-tour rust. The quintet also clearly loves playing together and seemed genuinely happy to be on stage, a sentiment that Homme eloquently put into words with an early-set monologue about his refusal to “work for The Man” and encouragement for everyone else to do the same.

However, backed by such a powerful ensemble and holding his own on vocals and guitar, Homme’s music spoke louder and more memorably. Concertgoers could feel the thumping bass drum from Jon Theodore’s kit throughout the nearly two-hour performance, during which the feeling persisted that any of the talented players could rip a killer guitar solo — the former Mars Volta percussionist included — and most did.

As the show charged forward, working in such catchy picks as “Emotional Sickness” (from recent release In Times New Roman…) and “The Way You Used to Do,” Queens of the Stone Age become increasingly playful, particularly on “Make It Wit Chu,” which segued nicely into the chorus from The Rolling Stones’ "Miss You” and featured a fun audience sing-along.

Minutes later, Homme tossed his mic toward the back of the stage, then suddenly chased the stagehand who retrieved it, sending the crew man sprinting to safety. It was a welcome moment of unbridled joy and movement from the group leader, who otherwise let Theodore’s propulsive drumming and the flanking rock god motion from Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar) and Michael Shuman (bass) handle the band’s active showmanship while he held things down at the mic and Dean Fertita kept to his elevated synths.

Eschewing an encore break, Homme asked for and — through democratic vote of audience noise — received permission to continue playing. Keeping the party going another 15-20 minutes, he and his cronies closed things out with a rendition of “A Song for the Dead” that featured more false endings than The Return of the King, yet made the evening’s most effective use of lighting effects, to the extent that the crowd felt beamed up and, for those who didn’t look away from the shiny objects, a bit disoriented.

More such close encounters with these intergalactic all-stars would certainly be appreciated.

(Photos by Jonny Leather)