Queens of the Stone Age, Hammersmith Apollo, 11 February 2008

Setlist: Turnin' On The Screw/Hanging Tree/Burn The Witch/Misfit Love/Hollow/Do It Again/3's And 7's/Era Vulgaris/Go With The Flow/Song For The Deaf/Blood Is Love/In The Fade/Suture/Designer/Little Sister/U Can't Quit Me/Regular John/Sick, Sick, Sick

Mondays are bad enough on its own but when you have to trek all the way to West London in the freezing cold to see a band you secretly have doubts about, it can be excruciating (yes I had doubts but they vanished. How you ask? Well read on my friends, read right on...).

All day at work I kept trying to call the Hammersmith Apollo to find out what time QOTSA would be onstage but they probably expected dumb ass questions like that because the number was engaged THE ENTIRE DAY. So there I was whining, whinging - all I wanted to do was go to sleep. Anyway I decided that whatever happened, I would leave by 10pm. 10.30pm at the very latest.

Arrived at the Hammersmith Apollo around 7.30pm and taped up on the wall was the exact information I had been pursuing all day long - opening act 8.15pm - 8.45pm, QOTSA 9.15pm - 11.00pm. Goddammit.

I can't remember the opening band's name. Crates of Fire? Firecracker? Crates of Desire? I know there was a "Crate" and a "Fire" in the name. Yeah obviously they were so good I didn't bother remembering the name. They were 3 guys from Scotland (well it sounded like a scene from Trainspotting to me up on the stage) and Jesus Christ, you'd think they'd have at least some charisma between them. Nada, the songs were crap and the frontman had no personality. The sound system during their slot was terrible which supports a conspiracy theory I have that opening acts are deliberately given a crappy sound system.

So after the passionless band leaves, who do I spot setting up but the notorious Ross Halfin, looking as tanned as ever. Ross is my hero; he leads the life I wish I had, the bastard. Anyway that was quite a highlight for me as I regularly read his online diary and feel sorry for myself that I'm sitting at a desk staring at a computer all day long at a job I'm not sure I fully understand while Ross is hanging out with my music idols, flying first class around the world and staying at 5 star hotels. Yes Ross I get it, you are the man.

Rather surprisingly, the lights went off at 9pm and QOTSA appeared to the delight of the crowd. A band that's actually more than punctual, how about that, fuck me. Everyone went wild (the place was absolutely packed, most packed I've ever seen the Apollo) and they kicked off with "Turnin' on the Screw" from their new album Era Vulgaris. And from start to finish, the band stormed through an epic set. You would have never guessed that Josh Homme was actually suffeirng from bronchitis (as we were told by the man himself) because he sounded incredible. He did fuck up "Little Sister" and declared "I'm sorry about that, I took a lot of drugs before the show, but I obviously didn't take enough. I feel like I ruined the party." The crowd cheered him on which prompted him to play some mean guitar riff.

And I swear to God, for the WHOLE show (and the following is going to sound really corny and pretentious but there really is no other way to describe it), the music and energy was surging through everyone's bodies and we couldn't help but dance, jump around and headbang (yay the 90's!) the entire time.

Ok, on to the doubts that I had... I'd heard and seen QOTSA on the radio and on tv and I thought that their music was good but nothing special. I was like, what is the big deal? Well, I still stand by that observation to an extent BUT, I concede that QOTSA, LIVE, is something else! They re bloomin' marvelous. I will be seeing them again given the chance, oh yes you can bet on that.

After the gig (yeah, I stayed till the end...), I checked out the merchandise counter. I had to decide between spending all my cash on an overly-expensive, cheaply produced t-shirt or saving my money so that I could buy a bottle of water as I was dehydrated from all the dancing. Guess what choice I made....

As always, Ross Halfin has great pics of the gig. Click here and look under the 11 February entry.