Now, let there be guitar: the gritted teeth of ‘Fortress’; the War On Drugs-y folk-rock twang to unreleased song ‘Easy Street’. Steadying the ship all night are the incredible orchestra, who grind out the abrasive opening note for ‘The Vampyre of Time and Memory’. Layering the show like brickwork, the house comes crashing down to conclude with the ground zero of ‘Long Slow Goodbye’, a cappella, to a standing ovation. “This song is very much for this city. Most of your life you will be alone, but not tonight, and that’s the whole fucking point.”
For the band who once penned ‘Song For The Dead’, it now becomes blindingly obvious that this ‘Catacombs’ tour is about life; about the blood that runs through the veins of Queens of the Stone Age, and the showmanship that defines their DNA. Three decades in, they find new ways to defy belief: the film was stunning, this show is world-beating.
They may not dominate stadiums like their peers Arctic Monkeys or Foo Fighters. Sure, they’ll even play second fiddle to System Of A Down next year. But, now firmly in the “legends” category, we’re surely dealing with the most daring rock band in the world. For that, even the six million dead bodies below Paris can muster a round of applause.