I first saw Queens of the Stone Age live about five years ago in college gym in Towson, Maryland. On that night, there was hardly and light show or any stage effects. With no fancy gimmicks, the band took the stage and simply rocked from start to finish - no cliched attempts at a rock "ballad", just fist pumping and high energy jams. Even though since that time Nick Oliveri, with his classic menacing hard rock looks has left the band, one thing still hasn't changed: QOTSA are still all about the rock.

With Josh Homme now clearly steering the good ship QOTSA, the band brought their "dance metal" to Philadelphia's Electric Factory this past Saturday night. This time they brought a few lights and had some gaudy chandelier style fixtures hanging above their heads to bring some Era Vulgeris flavor to the venue. While the lights were cool, they were just a little icing on the cake as once again, the band kicked ass right from start to the very end. Indeed, I'd have to say this show was even better than the first time I saw them, which is a pretty remarkable thing to say given how great they were back then.

An indication of how great a band is live is when they can skip their biggest "hit" and still keep fans in a frenzy the entire show and completely satisfied as they walked back to the parking lot buzzing about the sizzling performance they just witnessed. Despite leaving "No One Knows" off the set list, QOTSA rocked through favorites like "Millionaire", "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" (one of the best song titles of all time!), "Little Sister", "In The Fade," "Fun Machine" and "Sick, Sick, Sick." An extra treat was that both Dax Riggs and Howlin Rain (who could have been at Woodstock if they had metal bands) were worthy openers. If you haven't seen this band ever, or lately, get your self to a show. But, get some sleep the night before. You'll need all your energy to keep up as QOTSA puts the pedal to the metal right from the start and doesn't ease up on the throttle until the ride is over.

Labels: Live Reviews, QUOTSA