Having already made headlines with their current run of reside performances – together with a viral mosh pit at Glastonbury and an onstage look from Spider-Man in Belgium – Queens Of The Stone Age raised the bar as soon as once more tonight (July 7) at Mad Cool 2023 by delivering one among their strongest competition units to this point.
With quite a few festivalgoers frantically sprinting from the Sam Smith set that simply wrapped up on the Mad Cool stage, from the second Josh Homme and co. step onto the Madrid Is Life stage it turns into clear they don’t have any intention of easing their viewers into the set. Launching with fan favorite ‘No One Is aware of’, the frontman instantly has the Madrid viewers within the palm of his hand – and the depth solely ramps up from right here.
“If we play a little bit bit extra, is that alright?” Homme jokingly asks at one level, not needing to attend for the eruption of approval that follows. Even when devoting a big portion of the setlist to newer tracks – ‘Carnavoyeur’, ‘Paper Machete’, ‘Emotion Illness’ and ‘Straight Jacket Becoming’ from June’s ‘In Occasions New Roman…’ – there’s no doubting that Queens are producing one of the crucial charming performances of all the competition.
In fact, the set wouldn’t be full with out the same old playful antics from the band. There’s the second when Homme teases the group by asking them to sing louder because of it being bassist Michael Shuman’s birthday (a minor white lie), whereas throughout the stripped-back ending of ‘Straight Jacket Becoming’ the frontman busts out some questionable dance strikes atop the entrance audio system after recruiting the group as his private a capella choir.
Regardless of being one of many veterans on the Mad Cool 2023 line-up – which prides itself on supporting new expertise – you simply get the sense that we’re witnessing a band who’re reaching the height of their powers. With 25 years’ price of fabric to attract from and a mammoth variety of reside performances lined up for the remainder of 2023, this set proves that QOTSA clearly don’t have any intention of slowing down any time quickly.
“That is the very best viewers we’ve performed to this whole fucking tour,” Homme, taking a quick break from practising his Spanish, declares on the finish of their set, which climaxes with a frenzied ‘Music For The Useless’. “Take a look at what we’ve achieved collectively! Gracias… motherfuckers.”
Queens Of The Stone Age performed:
‘No One Is aware of’
‘My God Is The Solar’
‘Easy Crusing’
‘The Means You Used To Do’
‘Carnavoyeur’
‘If I Had A Tail’
‘The Evil Has Landed’
‘Paper Machete’
‘Emotion Illness’
‘Make It Wit Chu’
‘Little Sister’
‘Straight Jacket Becoming’
‘Go With The Movement’
‘Music For The Useless’
