Queens of the Stone Age at the Ambassador, Dublin

On judging the reputation that precedes them, revolving door line-up and onstage sneers, it would be too easy to fall for their rock’n’roll image. Yes, it looks like Josh Homme and Troy Van Leeuwen limbered onstage full of attitude, and grabbed the nearest rhythm section they could find. But don’t be fooled: Queens Of The Stone Age, especially with their current personnel, are breathtaking musicians.
This certainly didn’t translate when they played Oxegen last year, but when headlining a venue proper, their ability to hide their wizardy behind beefy guitars that are designed to annoy middle-class American neighbours everywhere is stunning. It’s gloriously dirty, exuberantly rock’n’roll and meticulously thrown together. It’s why they could sell out the Ambassador two nights in a row, with a third and fourth night audience waiting if they’d so required.
Their whiskey-swilling soundtrack should by rights be performed drunk and with plenty of leeway from the audience, yet it’s perfected to within a nanosecond – no mean feat given the many quirky sections, off-beat rhythms and glottal stops.
They spend the first half of their set playing newies from Era Vulgaris and album tracks like ‘Hangin’ Tree’, which bring home the quality of their musicianship.
But before the moshpit disperse out of frustration, with nothing they can sink their teeth into, they receive the delayed thrill they’ve been waiting for with ‘Do It Again’. From there, they keep churning out the hits effortlessly, throwing a ‘Sick Sick Sick’ here and a ‘Go With The Flow’ there.
And when the giant genius that is Josh Homme looks like he could play the elaborate guitar solo on ‘Little Sister’ in REM sleep, the songs they omitted (‘No One Knows’ and ‘Feelgood Hit...') are forgotten and their status as the world’s coolest band is confirmed.
See mum? It’s not just noise.

Check out more live shots from the night here.

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