Queens Of The Stone Age at Beacon Theatre [photos + review]

Photos + Review by Will Oliver

As someone lucky enough to be in my position of going to shows as frequently as I do l being in the New York City area. Most of the shows I see are (thankfully) very good, but its rare that I am left completely in awe and surprised by what I witness.

This was very much the case last Friday night, when Queens Of The Stone Age stopped into a very sold out Beacon Theatre as a part of The Catacombs Tour, coming in support of their new live album and film, Alive in the Catacombs.

The goal of this tour was to bring all-new arrangements that were crafted specifically for the occasion and enhanced by a local New York-based ensemble. The result was a show made for the die hards – the band suggested fans dress up for the occasion, which featured mostly deep cuts from throughout their over two decades of material.

The sets were broken up into a trio of sets, first with the Alive in the Catacombs performance that brought the crowd into the atmospheric descent into the Catacombs with a mood-driven stripped down performance which totally brought tracks like Suture Up Your Future” and “I Never Came” to a totally new place of existence. Frontman Josh Homme brought spooky season theatrics to life, toying with a meat clever, even descending into the crowd to add to the spectacle.

For the second act the band welcomed a horn section, and while the third act was the closest to the more “traditional” lineup of the band, they still offered up a performance unlike anything I’ve seen from them, and I’ve seen them probably close to ten times at this point. This show was tailor-made for the biggest diehards of the band who got deep cuts and even a bit of Them Crooked Vultures “Spinning in Daffodils” and saw bassist Mikey Shuman share vocal duties with Homme on “Auto Pilot.”

It’s wild to think of seeing them and not getting expected staples like “No One Knows” or “Go With The Flow”, but it was a worthy sacrifice in order to see a band operating like never before, and giving you a chance to take in songs that you may never get to hear again – let alone in that manner. I wish so many more of my favorites would follow suite.

Enjoy a full gallery of photos from the performance posted below, along with the setlist.