Apr 7, 2018

Queens of the Stone Age at The Republik

Honolulu hadn’t had a real ROCK show in some time. Decent bands had passed through, a couple “melodic post-hardcore” bands, but none of them could match the hip shaking stoner rock of Queens of the Stone Age. The Republik, in Honolulu, Hawaii hosted two sold out shows in which the band played two different set lists.

Considering Queens of the Stone Age have been playing large arenas and festivals as of late, it was a rare treat to experience the band in a small club setting. There were no opening bands either night to hype the audience. The slightly older crowd was ready for a night filled with hard and heavy boogie stoner rock.

Both nights the band made their entrance to the stage as a recording of the Skatt Brother’s cult classic “Walk the Night” blared through the speakers. Josh Homme and his band sauntered onto the stage and came out meaning business. Homme dominated the stage with his height, Elvis like swagger, and rugged demeanor. But this band is so much more than Homme. Jon Theodore’s drumming skills were spotlighted each night. Michael Shuman, also known as Mikey Shoes was heavy hitting the bass lines and backing vocals. Dean Fertita came out from the keyboards and regularly played guitar and sometimes both at once. Troy Van Leeuwen’s unique tone and guitar style makes him the guts of the band. Throughout each set Van Leeuwen switches between playing his cache of Jazzmaster guitars, mixing it up by playing slide, lap steel, and a double necked guitar.

Each night the band played an 18 song set. Highlights included “If I Had A Tail”, “Feet Don’t Fail Me”, the hip shaking “The Way You Used To Do” and “Burn The Witch, the psychedelicized “You Can’t Quit Me Baby”, and “Sick, Sick, Sick”. The only negatives I can think of was the inclusions of “Villains Of Circumstance” and “…Like Clockwork”. The slower pace of these songs killed the momentum the band had built up. Other than that the band played hard for nearly two hours each night.

It took Queens of the Stone Age twenty years to get to Hawaii, something Homme apologized for. On these nights there was no profanity laced diatribes or wild man antics. Both shows Homme shared his philosophy to live by, stating that the past is gone, the future hasn’t arrived, we need to live in the now, today is everything.

Both nights the band encored with “A Song for the Dead” from the 2002 album Songs for the Deaf. The crowd was given one last time to thrash around until Homme laid his feedback screeching guitar on top of the amplifier and walked off the stage.

March 28, 2018