Queens of the Stone Age unearthed an evening of ghosts, grooves, and a live debut at the legendary Chicago Theatre on Thursday (10/2) to kick off their Catacombs Tour. The three-act performance even included a Vulture cover which was apropos to the theme.
The Catacombs Tour supports the group's five-song EP Alive in the Catacombs on Matador Records, their moody live recording from beneath Paris last year, surrounded by over a million French souls.
The Parisian catacombs date back to the late 18th century, when overflowing cemeteries forced city officials to exhume and move millions of remains into the abandoned limestone quarries beneath the elegant capital.
The tunnels stretch more than 200 miles under Paris, though only small sections are open to the public today.
Out of sight but not out of mind, the catacombs have become a spooky setting for secret happenings, but QOTSA's recording and film that blended new compositions with reinterpreted classics marked the first full rock performance officially sanctioned by Paris authorities in the site’s history.
“If you’re ever going to be haunted, surrounded by several million dead people is the place. I’ve never felt so welcome in my life," Josh Homme said when the record was announced.
He joked that the catacombs gig was "the biggest audience we’ve ever played for."
Queens of the Stone Age are Homme on vocals and guitar; Troy Van Leeuwen on guitar, lap steel and keyboards; Michael Shuman on bass and vocals; Dean Fertita on guitar, keyboards and vocals; and Jon Theodore on drums.
For this tour they are accompanied by full string and horn sections
Alive in the Catacombs boasts reimagined acoustic versions of “Kalopsia,” “Villains of Circumstance,” and “I Never Came,” performed with darker, minimalistic arrangements.
"We're so stripped down because that place is so stripped down, which makes the music so stripped down, which makes the words so stripped down," Homme told Billboard in May. "It would be ridiculous to try to rock there."
The first act of the Chicago show was basically the EP, but live, and thankfully with the strings present.
The presentation was lovely and well-received.
The set opened with “Running Joke” with Homme pointing a flashlight on the crowd singing the lyric "look at you now."
It marked the first time the tune had been performed above ground.
The night also included the first-ever Queens rendition of “Spinning in Daffodils,” originally by Them Crooked Vultures, the 2009 supergroup that included Homme on vocals and guitar, Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) on drums, and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) on bass and keyboards.
The Queens teased it with a riff from “The Blood Is Love,” nodding to Homme’s cross-project past.
Several long-lost songs reappeared after years in the abyss. “Mosquito Song” and “You Got a Killer Scene There, Man…” returned to the set for the first time since 2007. “Someone’s in the Wolf” and “Hideaway” were dusted off since meeting mothballs in 2018, while “Fortress” and “…Like Clockwork” each reemerged for the first time since '17 and '18 respectively.
The third act also featured “Easy Street,” an unreleased track making its live debut.
The Queens are taking this dark but lively show on a world tour with a few more dates in the States before hopping to Europe next week including a night at the Royal Albert Hall.
In November they return to the US with gigs at the delightful Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara, the home of the Oscars in LA, and even some stops in Mexico.
Hear what the French souls got to groove to. Tickets available on the Queens of the Stone Age website.
The Catacombs Tour 2025
10/8 Boch Center Wang Theatre, Boston, MA
10/10 Beacon Theatre, New York, NY
10/18 Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber, Milan, IT
10/20 Le Grand Rex, Paris, FR
10/21 Baloise Session, Basel, CH
10/23 Theater des Westens, Berlin, DE
10/24 DR Koncerthuset, Copenhagen, DK
10/26 Royal Theater Carré, Amsterdam, NL
10/27 Queen Elisabeth Hall, Antwerp, BE
10/29 Royal Albert Hall, London, UK
11/7 SEMA Fest, Las Vegas, NV
11/8 Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara, CA
11/10 Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA
11/11 Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
11/12 Corona Capital Sessions: Estadio Banorte, Monterrey, MX
11/14 Corona Capital, Mexico City, MX
11/19 Bass Concert Hall, Austin, TX
11/21 Saenger Theatre, New Orleans, LA
