Queens of the Stone Age landed at Spark Arena last night and seduced their way through the most spectacular performance that Auckland has seen from this band yet. With curated support from Wellington’s Earth Tongue and Perth’s Pond, the three bands had the different corners of the druggy sound spectrum covered.
EARTH TONGUE
Aotearoa duo Earth Tongue opened the evening.
Her playing was primal and refined, nestled into a happy middle ground between conventional guitar playing and the rhythmic punch usually covered by the bass.
Counter-part Ezra Simons on the drums locked into Gussie’s tightly woven grooves while adding percussive intricacies and nuances to the repeating riffs.
The band played a new tune, Reaper Returns, and introduced by letting us know that they will have a new album announcement by day light.
As the set progressed, they struck me as having a strong 70’s influence (a theme that will be repeated throughout the evening’s line up).
The silver bell-bottoms sported by Gussie Larkin, the Black Sabbath riffage, but most distinctively it was the lyrical content of nighttime creatures, celestial visitations, and impending doom that recalled grindhouse and b-grade horror films of the same decade.
After the repeating hooks, no logical light source, the luminous glow hovering above head height, I feel the light.
Earth Tongue left the stage, beamed back home from where they came, leaving only the glow of a satisfied audience.
Earth Tongue’s new tune Bodies Dissolve Tonight! dropped this morning. Go listen to it. It’s heavy with the right amount of weird.
POND
Pond took the stage with front-man Nick Allbrook addressing the audience with a distinctively Australian accented hello, kia ora!
The sound is trippy, joyous and all encompassing.
In his gold sequinned shirt, Nick Allbrook does not stop moving for the entire set, he is an absolute showman. He dial’s up the swagger and campness of Mic Jagger, has the agility of Justin Hawkins and the detached coolness of Brit Daniel.
Nick Allbrook outstretches both arms to the ceiling and lets his spirit-fingers rain their back way down. He struts, gyrates, strikes poses and takes refuge on the stage floor sprawled flat on his back.
The black-shirted audience members around me that were ready to rock in a more traditional sense looked a little confused for the first couple of songs. However, they were soon won over by the sheer fun and showmanship of it all.
As a collective, Pond continued to surprise me as their set unfolded. They frequently bent their warm and bouncing pop into more psychedelic and exploratory spaces.
Songs had extended sections of layered sound, modulated slide guitars and sprinklings of dreamy keyboards. Yet these moments never felt self-indulgent as you could sense another giddy T-Rex style riff was just around the corner.
Prior to the show, I had listened to Pond in passing. They didn’t do much for me. They sound like a different band to my ears this morning. Consider me a convert!
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
No strangers to Aotearoa shores, 2024’s The End Is Nero tour is QOTSA’s sixth visit to Tamaki Makaurau since their double-set debut in 2003’s Big Day Out festival.
With the addition of former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore in 2013, QOTSA solidified their onstage line up and the band has increasingly become a cohesive musical unit as opposed to Josh Homme with a cast of regular and casual collaborators.
The latest release In Times New Roman, written and performed by the band we saw on stage last night consisting of Josh Homme, Dean Fertita, Troy Van Leeuwan, Michael Shuman and Jon Theodore.
With doors largely closed to outside influences and subsequently recorded in most part in Josh Homme’s own studio.
They initially took to the stage bathed in blood red stage lights and opened with arguably the most iconic rock riff of the 21st century. The staccato rhythm that is No One Knows.
It was a bold way to open a set. I’m used to taking a few songs to adjust when watching a band, before my head is fully engaged. It was jarring in a good way, no space for any lingering thoughts of the day to arise. It’s QOTSA time!
Guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen introducing smooth and swelling notes during the verses of No One Knows, the whole band dropping down in the second verse of Lost Art of Keeping A Secret and building back up again for a more explosive second chorus.
My first highlight of the night came in the form of Smooth Sailing from 2013’s Like Clockwork.
The connection in vibe to support act Pond suddenly apparent with its rocked-up David Bowie style playful groove. The circular and ascending riffs in the bridge after Josh Homme delivers the line, Hell is at the temple of a closed mind, is one of the filthiest thirty seconds of psychedelia in the QOTSA catalogue.
The section ends abruptly as the song shifts back down to a conventional groove, the lighting returns to normal and it was like it never happened. It was an extremely intense, effective, and well-designed moment for a band that often shuns the big screens and steers away from visuals that risk distracting the viewer from the music.
Throughout the night, Josh Homme had banter by the shovel-load. He verbalised gratitude to his audience in a manner we have not seen from him before.
He’s been through a difficult few years, experiencing heavily publicised marriage turmoil, a health crisis, both on top of the general covid-related woes.
Josh Homme was frisky with the crowd throughout, in-part through sexual innuendo, other parts hilariously crass. He hit equally on men, women, and the audience as whole.
Some quotes from across the set included, stand up and be recognised you fine motherfucker after locking eyes for a full minute with a gentleman dancing in his seat.
You’re laughing and smiling every song; I travelled 5000 miles just for that. To a lady on the front row.
Bring yourself to me, come dance with me from the side of the stage you mother fucking beautiful couple as he parted the sea of general admission to allow a couple with a sign request for, I Appear Missing to watch nearly the entirety of the set from side of stage.
Five songs from In Times New Roman made it into the night’s setlist choices. All of which held their own amongst more established songs.
Jon Theodore, who Josh Homme lavished praise upon for playing so well despite throwing up all day due to food poisoning, demonstrated the edge he brings to the band in Paper Machete.
A pummelling drum pattern that brings to life what might sound like a generic, Queens-by-numbers tune without his presence. Time and place were characterised by a stiff and low-fi sounding riff and bass line that pulsates monotonously for the duration of the song.
The result was hypnotic and allowed for each player to weave in and out of flashy moments and solos, then seamlessly back into the larger machine.
Straight Jacket Fitting included an extended breakdown where Josh Homme shed the guitar, lit a cigarette, and walked his way through the entirety of the general admission. Pausing to here and there to express his love to specific audience members he was drawn towards.
The night also included a few of the more menacing numbers. Under a green lit stage, we heard Burn the Witch, in which Jack Black was side of stage dressed in matching black, red and orange flamed shorts and t-shirt.
The audience request I Appear Missing was the most journey-like song of the night, and one that Josh Homme introduced as fucking depressing.
The song was sinister and plodding in the verses, like a creeper making its’ way down a dimly lit hospital hallway. It reaches a powerful, straightforward chorus before entering a chaotic and disorienting transition into an extended jam that was spacious and exploratory. A masterful performance that demonstrates how some of these songs continue to find new life on stage beyond the studio recording.
God Is in The Radio received a welcome roar of applause. During the first solo I noted how influential their music has been on popular music. God Is in The Radio is not a single or a hit by any means, but the guitars and melodies are etched into the conscious of generations of rock fans. They took their time with the song, jamming it out and giving space for Jon Theodore to treat us to a brief drum solo.
Go With the Flow followed and was performed at break-neck pace.
The evening closed with an incredibly heavy A Song for The Dead. More iconic riffage here.
This song has gained popularity with viral videos of other musicians playing and reacting to the song, and more recently with footage from Europe of the mosh action that this song whips up. It had the same effect on the kiwi crowd.
Josh Homme standing tall, and other than his hands, dead still on the front of stage foldbacks watching circle pits and rapid movement unfolding on the floor beneath him.
Having seen Queens of The Stone Age so many times before, I went into the show thinking I knew exactly what kind of show I was in for. I left the show stunned and with a new appreciation for a band I already loved to pieces. They are performing at the top of their game right now. They know it and appear keener than ever to bring their fans along for the ride.
Chris Warne
Photography by Jennifer De Koning
Queens Of The Stone Age
Pond
Earth Tongue
