• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source

FOTOBOM: QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, ROYAL BLOOD @ AGGANIS ARENA, 21OCT17

Written by TIM BUGBEE Posted October 24, 2017 Filed Under: Fotobom, MUSIC, Reviews

© Tim Bugbee / tinnitus photography

 

Queens Of The Stone Age have had a weird ride. Launched from the desert rock scene via Kyuss, leader Josh Homme has slowly but steadily abandoned the hard crunch and fuzz of those beginnings, and added a much more fluid and nuanced approach over the last two records. After the hiatus following Era Vulgaris that was punctuated by a post-op infection which left Homme closer to dying than anyone would want, he looked inwardly and as a result the songs took on a different shape. Check out …Like Clockwork’s title track for a clearer example of this.

 

One unexpected guest on that record was Sir Reginald Dwight’s piano contribution on “Fairweather Friends,” and this is total conjecture on my part but after Homme spent last year touring as part of Iggy Pop’s band, the sound of Villains has an unmistakable stamp of a certain thin, white, Osterberg collaborator and I wouldn’t have been surprised had Bowie popped up on “Fortress” (sadly didn’t make the cut for tonight) or “The Evil Has Landed.”

 

Homme was in a talkative mood and dished on topics ranging from hoping that everyone got laid that night, how good his tequila tasted, and letting security that they worked for him tonight and to not hassle the fans in the front, whether they were using flash while taking a photo or enjoying a slug from a flask. “Hey, it’s my long-lost brother. You gotta jail? Cool.” He also made a commentary on our ever-fracturing society, telling people to “go on a living spree and be with people you like, bond over things you like rather than things you hate. Otherwise, the evil has landed.”  Digging deep into the songbook, Homme prefaced “Mexicola” by saying they played that song at the Middle East but just over half of the set list was comprised from the last two records. For my money, Homme should dump the stodgy “Make It Wit Chu” and similarly dull dance plodder “Smooth Sailing” and replace them with virtually anything else.  Homme pulled an audible on the encore with an earlier shouted request for “I Think I Lost My Headache,” so he’s clearly living by his earlier  words.

 

UK duo Royal Blood has opening duties for this tour, a tad ironic as another noted bass/drum duo was also playing just a few yards down the street.  You’d be surprised at how loud just a bass and a drummer can get, and while it wasn’t the super-distorted hyper-grunge like godheadSilo or the doomy mystic trip of OM, they took a more rockist approach. Only veering from the path briefly when “Hole In Your Heart” featured some keyboards, Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher managed to get the crowd’s attention and hold it; the feeling was reciprocated when Thatcher was held aloft by the crowd after a brief sojourn across the security barrier.

 

Photos of both bands:

 


Created with flickr slideshow.

TIM BUGBEE
+ posts

Primarily based in Boston, Massachusetts, Tim Bugbee is no stranger to traveling throughout the country or overseas to capture the best live music photos.

  • TIM BUGBEE
    https://digboston.com/author/tim-bugbee/
    FOTOBOM: RUBBLEBUCKET + LUNAR VACATION @ BIG NIGHT LIVE
  • TIM BUGBEE
    https://digboston.com/author/tim-bugbee/
    FOTOBOM: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND @ TD GARDEN
  • TIM BUGBEE
    https://digboston.com/author/tim-bugbee/
    FOTOBOM: QUASI + BAT FANGS @ THE SINCLAIR
  • TIM BUGBEE
    https://digboston.com/author/tim-bugbee/
    FOTOBOM: JERRY HARRISON + ADRIAN BELEW'S REMAIN IN LIGHT

Filed Under: Fotobom, MUSIC, Reviews Tagged With: Agganis Arena, Boston, Fotobom, Josh Homme, Kyuss, live music, Queens of the Stone Age, Royal Blood, Villains Tour

WHAT’S NEW

The Legendary Past And Uncertain Future Of The Harvard Square Theatre

The Legendary Past And Uncertain Future Of The Harvard Square Theatre

State Wire: Funds Aim To Support Municipalities With Expanded Mail Voting

State Wire: Funds Aim To Support Municipalities With Expanded Mail Voting

Parks & Checks: Wasteful, Opaque Bookkeeping At Two City Of Boston Nonprofit Arms

Parks & Checks: Wasteful, Opaque Bookkeeping At Two City Of Boston Nonprofit Arms

Surf’s Upcycled: Meet The Bay State Surfers Conserving The Oceans Where They Ride

Surf’s Upcycled: Meet The Bay State Surfers Conserving The Oceans Where They Ride

State Wire: Public Supports Changes To High-Stakes Testing For Mass Students

State Wire: Public Supports Changes To High-Stakes Testing For Mass Students

State Wire: White Supremacist Gatherings, Incidents Hit All-Time High In New England

State Wire: White Supremacist Gatherings, Incidents Hit All-Time High In New England

Primary Sidebar

LOCAL EVENTS

AAN Wire


Most Popular

  • Does Massachusetts Underestimate Its Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
  • The Most Expensive Massachusetts City For Car Insurance (No, It’s Not Boston)
  • If You Find A Mini Felted Animal Around Boston, This Is Where It Came From
  • As Prices Soar, Fossil Fuel Industry Looks After Its Interests On Beacon Hill
  • FOTOBOM: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND @ TD GARDEN

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an email blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: sales@digboston.com To reach editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): editorial@digboston.com