The Teragram Ballroom is officially the hottest venue in town, mostly because they got the highly anticipated QOTSA secret show… People had been talking about this secret show for a week and the location was kept secret till one hour before tickets went on sale. How did I manage to get through Ticketmaster app on my iPhone is still a mystery to me, I tried at least 50 times, and when I was waiting online before the show, everyone was telling the same story of tension, frustration and finally victory, and these people were the die-hard fans, the lucky ones who could get a ticket but who had almost had a heat attack with the ticketing system.
But I want to insist on how cool this new venue is, no bag searching at the entrance and no annoying restriction on cameras! At last some people who understand how pointless it is! And because they let me freely use my camera, I managed to take awesome pics of the band. I have seen QOTSA several times, but this gig was by far the best show I attended, because of the intimacy of the venue and because I was so close, I could have touched Josh Homme’s pedals! Like a fifteen-year old fangirl, I ran with the crowd when they opened the doors, just to have the privilege to lean against the stage and I beat a few people in the process. As we had to wait for a long time, people were getting very friendly and drunk, like the two guys next to me… ‘At one point, if I have to pee in my cup, are you gonna be offended?’ asked me one of them… ‘Yes! You can’t do that, I’ll save your spot, go to the toilet!’I told him. But the atmosphere stayed very friendly and funny with comedian Bill Burr, who opened the show with great and totally politically incorrect jokes about Caitlyn Jenner and Kanye West. He was funny and he knew this crowd was not the type of crowd to get easily offended –although he got some violent screaming from a woman – but more importantly, he knew why people were here, so after 10-15 minutes he was done, leaving the stage for the Queens.
They were welcomed like heroes and heroes they certainly are, guitar heroes. Being so close allowed me to see almost everything, although the show looked and sounded like a thunderstorm falling over our heads. The action was amazing, the quintet played a breathtaking show, without even stopping for a few seconds, at one point Homme even changed his guitar while playing and singing. The Queens certainly didn’t let the energy come down at any moment of the show, even ‘The Vampyre of Time and Memory’, the only song played on keyboard which could have slowed down the show, sounded dynamized by the crowd sing-along and then the explosive guitars. Being so close let me observe all the details of Josh Homme’s virtuoso style, his restless sexy dance moves and the sweat pearling, then soon running on his face. He has a unique way to move with his guitar, it looks like a hip dance, facilitating the other fast little dance of his fingers on his guitar neck.
This should not be news for anyone, he is an impressive guitar player, and there is something immensely satisfying to be able to see every detail, I am a sucker for this kind of treat and I was a kid in a candy store. I would have needed more than two eyes to see and observe everything, especially because they were constantly moving and the lights were constantly flashing. A front row spot at a QOTSA show is as dense as you can imagine, no actually you can’t imagine it if you haven’t experienced it, each second stimulates all your senses and the music fills the place like a familiar monster.
They didn’t talk much, Josh was visibly touched by the loving demonstrations of the enthusiastic crowd, but he shouldn’t have, as only the most die-hard fans had probably managed to get a ticket. In any case, the time was for music and not talking, and they played the show with a formidable energy while dispatching their songs as if they were rockets sent to the moon. The band kept us on the edge of a hard rock cliff, showing us once again they are one of the greatest rock bands alive.
Being in the front is the best, no doubt in my mind, especially when you take pictures, but you have to make some sacrifice, the power of the sound was overwhelming, and yes I was hearing way too much Michael Shuman’s bass (as I was close to him) and not enough of Josh Homme’s versatile vocals, plus their heavy and aggressive riffs were often swallowing the songs emotional melodies or the groovy dance tempos, but you can’t ask for everything… at this instant, I had the best view in the room and was experiencing the fury that QOTSA had unleashed with their usual ease. Being at the front has also another disadvantage, it doesn’t allow you to see who is hiding in the back of the room, but it was reported that Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner, Anthony Bourdain, and ex QOTSA bassist Nick Oliveri were all in attendance,
As excited as I was in anticipation for the show, I had woken up on Thursday with one of these pounding headaches, the type that goes crescendo during the entire day…. Lights and loud music may not be the best remedy but I was not focusing on the pain anymore, the experience had become more intense than my migraine and Josh was singing ‘Sick, Sick, Sick’, then ‘I Think I Lost My Headache’, so it was perfect, I was not feeling anything anymore,…Anyway, the Queens know about pain, they approach a live show like a physical test, and you can often read effort and even pain on their faces. While they play with a real assurance, their alchemy produces an aching concoction of aggression and fragile beauty.
The show was supposed to be a warm-up for their slot at Rock in Rio later this month, but none of this sounded like a rehearsal, they were as almighty as ever, and may be the only disappointment could have been that they didn’t play any new material? Aren’t they supposed to work on a new album? But may be it’s too early for this. As soon as I exited the Teragram Ballroom, my headache peaked again, reminding me that I was really back in my body, the wild ride was over, and it will take some time to recover,… but it was well worth it.
Setlist
My God Is the Sun
Smooth Sailing
Burn the Witch
I Sat by the Ocean
Into the Hollow
Regular John
3’s & 7’s
Go With the Flow
The Vampyre of Time and Memory
If I Had a Tail
In My Head
Little Sister
Fairweather Friends
Sick, Sick, Sick
I Think I Lost My Headache
No One Knows
Encore:
A Song for the Dead
Many pictures of the show here.
