Californian rock band Queens of the Stone Age have announced they will play three outdoor headline shows in the UK this June.
The band’s unconventional choice of venues – a castle, theme park, and an 18th Century cloth hall – have somewhat baffled fans who are delighted nonetheless with Queens of the Stone Age’s return. The shows will be the first headline UK concerts the band from the desert has played in five years.
Kicking off the tour on the 20th June, the band will play The Piece Hall in Halifax, then head to the theme park Dreamland in Margate on the 22nd June, and finish the run on the 23rd June at Cardiff Castle.
Supporting the band for all three shows will be the Isle of Wight indie pop band Coach Party. The up-and-comers shared the announcement on their Instagram captioning the post, “we’ll also be riding this one for a long time”.
The dates are a welcome addition to Queens of The Stone Age’s already-packed European summer schedule. Josh Homme and his crew will be performing at a myriad of festivals this summer including Rock Werchter Festival in Belgium, Les Nuits de Fourvière in France, Mad Cool Festival in Spain, and NOS Alive Festival in Portugal. Queens of the Stone Age will also be playing in the US this year with shows in Sacramento, Louisville, New York, Boston, and Columbus.
The announcement of the band’s UK shows was shared across the band’s social media accounts on the 18th April with the cryptic caption, “The worlds gonna end in a month or so….”, leading to some fans speculating that new music might be on the way this summer.
Back in 2019, ZZ Top founder Billy Gibbons revealed to eonmusic that he will appear on QOTSA’s next album. He also told the magazine that David Grohl would also be featured on the album. “Just one month ago I was making a record with Queens of the Stone Age“, said Gibbons in an interview with eonmusic Hellfest in France, “and Dave Grohl was also taking part and he decided to have a big barbecue. So there was this interesting gathering. So, we spent one hour telling stories, great stories remembering these lovely guys.”
It’s been nearly six years since the band’s last LP, the carefree and energetic Villains produced by Mark Ronson. The album received positive reviews and topped Billboard’s US Top Alternative Albums and US Top Rock Albums Charts. It was also nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2018 Grammys.
Listen to the lead single from Villians, “The Way You Used To Do“, below:
Tickets for the UK shows go on sale on Friday 21st April at 9 am BST. For tickets and more information see here.
See below for Queens of the Stone Age’s UK and European dates:
16/06/23 – Southside Festival Germany – Neuhausen Ob Eck
17/06 – Pinkpop Festival – Landgraaf
18/06 – Hurricane Festival – Scheessel
20/06 – The Piece Hall – Halifax
22/06 – Dreamland – Margate
23/06 – Cardiff Castle – Cardiff
28/06 – Roskilde Festival – Roskilde
30/06 –Open’er Festival – Gdynia
02/07 – Rock Werchter Festival – Werchter
04/07 – Les Nuits de Fourvière – Lyon
05/07 – Pause Guitare Festival – Albi
07/07 – Mad Cool Festival – Madrid
08/07 – NOS Alive Festival – Lisbon
