American desert rock group Queens of the Stone Age may have been absent for awhile but the Josh Homme fronted rockers sure know how to put on a show after their Glastonbury set went viral. The band played the festival on Sunday night and put on a performance that will live long in the memory.
Queens Of The Stone Age go viral with epic Glastonbury footage https://t.co/gEzAO4rrMC @qotsa pic.twitter.com/6ii1Rq1NGc
— Kerrang! (@KerrangMagazine) June 26, 2023
Queens of the Stone Age’s newest album release, In Times New Roman…, is still hot off the presses, having dropped only on 16 June, and the band have already created sonic waves on the festival circuit- wowing the party lovers at Worthy Farm on Sunday evening. Even more amazingly the band clashed with Elton John’s headlining triumph over on the Pyramid Stage-the legendary singer’s last UK performance before he calls it quits for good.
And, in fact, Homme sent a nod toward Elton John-or at least a cheeky joke- by introducing himself as the rock n roll icon, much to the merriment of the fans gathered before him. But the comparisons between the two simultaneous acts ended there as Queens of the Stone Age came to, in the words of Homme himself, “fuck shit up together.” The energy of the guitarist and frontman is something to behold as well-at 50 Homme commanded the Glastonbury crowd like a teenager playing his first gig with everything to prove. Not too shabby for a man who recently divulged a battle with cancer last year.
Footage of the crowd at @qotsa‘s Glastonbury set has gone viral#NMEGlasto #Glastonbury2023 https://t.co/To7jp7sYub — NME (@NME) June 27, 2023
The set was also punctuated with a tender, emotional dedication to Homme’s friend and collaborator, Mark Lanegan- the band playing “In the Fade” in memory of the talented singer who died last year. The Seattle based singer was an early grunge pioneer and featured on numerous Homme and Queens of the Stone Age material.
Not only did the group pull a massive crowd on the Other Stage, their set closing song “Song for the Dead” sent the band viral over the internet as the grounds before them exploded into a huge circle pit. Lording over the chaos, Homme surveyed the masses as the opening notes of the song reverberated through the audience. Addressing the multitudes, Homme yelled, “wait a minute, I haven’t done shit yet. Stop for a second! Stop! I haven’t done shit. I run this fucking place-you don’t go until I say ‘go.'”
ROCK ON: Queens of the Stone Age hailed for Glastonbury set up against Elton John, play past curfew despite hefty fine: https://t.co/g5fdotE7fA
— Loudwire (@Loudwire) June 26, 2023
By the time Homme began picking the signature notes of the introduction to the song, the crowd, fit to burst, made sure Glastonbury wouldn’t sign off without adding a heavy rock tinge to the proceedings. Many will argue, Glastonbury saved the best for its final night this year- the only complaint to be had possibly coming from those who were forced to choose between the sets of two rock legends.
