Queens of the Stone Age waltz through intimate Seattle underplay

Concert review

It didn't take long for Josh Homme to get into character.

With a microphone in one hand and waving a portable mechanic's light with the other, the Queens of the Stone Age frontman stalked and swayed around the barely lit Paramount Theatre stage on Wednesday like some sort of shamanic, rock ‘n' roll ringmaster of a dark carnival.

Homme spookily serenaded the sold-out crowd - rapt with curiosity and anticipation - with deconstructed versions of "Running Joke" and "Kalopsia" as his musical accomplices (including a string ensemble) slipped out from behind the curtain to join the proceedings. (Later, Homme would trade the shop light for a cleaver as he took his wavy, off-kilter movements to the floor, slinking up and down the aislesandencountering unsuspecting fans as they returned from the beer line or bathroom.)

True to its billing, this wasn't a typical Queens of the Stone Age tour. Last year, the desert rock greats, more accustomed to headlining arenas these days, released the acoustic concert film and EP "Alive in the Catacombs," recorded in the actual catacombs beneath Paris. Inspired by the experience, which created a different sort of intimacy as QOTSA's rockers were stripped to the studs and delicately rebuilt with help from a string section, Homme & Co. extrapolated the concept for a limited theater run.

Playing deconstructed renditions of their songs cast familiar QOTSA cuts in a wildly different light, like twirling through the band's catalog on a gothic, psych-addled carousel. The chaos and menace of songs like the crescendo of "Kalopsia" - for which the audience howled in appreciation - were sown by screeching cello and violin bows and Homme's eerie vocals, instead of the guitar pedals and distortion that are the usual weapons of choice in one of QOTSA's more typical full-throttle rock shows.

Other first-half highlights included the tuba-skronking, gong-smashing mayhem of "Someone's in the Wolf," for which the string section expanded to an eight-person miniorchestra(comprising local players), and fan favorite "Mosquito Song" - a ready-made choice for the orchestral format. Bellowing horns and high-wire strings on Them Crooked Vultures' "Spinning in Daffodils" punctuated and transformed the twirling, waltzing rocker into something fresh inside the dimly theater.

"People are who they really want to be in the dark," Homme said at one point, "and we have the darkness to give you."

While he was talking about the "devalued commodity" of mind-freeing escapism of art and entertainment, it seemed to hold true for the performer as well. Playing in a shadow world of his own creation, Homme seemed both liberated and disarmed by the intimate environs that are a far cry from the stadium shows QOTSA is set to play with Foo Fighters this summer. Being unbound from his guitar for much of the two-hour set only fanned some of the nuanced eccentricities of Homme's vocal delivery (sort of a sinister psych-croon) and the physicality of his stage presence.

Something about the setting also seemed to prompt Homme to open up about his time living in Seattle, where "individuality runs rampant," during the ‘90s after his previous band, stoner rock cult heroes Kyuss, dissolved. "I came here to quit playing music, and I learned how to fall in love with music again," Homme said.

Originally from Palm Desert, Calif., Homme's brother and his brother's husband lived on Queen Anne, and Homme eventually got an apartment on Capitol Hill, taking classes at Seattle Central College. In a bit of often-overlooked Seattle rock lore, Queens of the Stone Age played its first show at the old OK Hotel.

Homme recalled being invited to play with the famously quarrelsome Screaming Trees for a tour after his friend and former Dinosaur Jr. bassist, Mike Johnson, knew better than to take the gig, suggesting Homme instead. Homme and Screaming Trees frontman, the late great Mark Lanegan, became close friends and collaborators until Lanegan's death in 2022.

"Once I heard Lanegan's voice, I was in for the rest of my life," Homme said. "So, I joined the Screaming Trees and they (expletive) hated each other. But I got along with all of them," he continued, pausing to sip some emotional support tequila. "It was such a beautiful time to learn, to shut up, to listen and I felt welcome in this city as an outsider."

After stuffing the first half of the set with acoustic rearrangements that were adventurously rewarding (if somewhat polarizing among ready-to-rock fans), Homme and his mates moved into a more conventional rock band format, augmented by the mini-orchestra. The added muscle gave songs like the moody, propulsive favorite "Auto Pilot" (sung by bassist Michael Shuman) and a soaring "Fortress" a little more liftoff before a heartfelt a cappella encore of "Long Slow Goodbye."

"This song is for all the locals who went away too young, too soon and too talented," Homme said, picking up a set of sleigh bells.

"Mark hated jingle bells," Homme added with the smirk ofaguy lovingly needling a brother.

If only for a tour, QOTSA's temporary reinvention is one Homme's old pal likely would have enjoyed. Jingle bells or no.

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This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 5:05 PM.