'The best rock band in the world' plays none of its hits in SF

Queens of the Stone Age had just finished performing the most obscure track (“Mosquito Song”) off their most popular album (“Songs for the Deaf”) beneath dense murder-red lights when a screeching burst of feedback punctured through the applause. Frontman Josh Homme laughed it off and remarked: “All these f—king vampires, you have to invite them into your opera house.”

Six songs into a dramatic set of curated deep cuts at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco on Monday night, his quip was clearly referencing the heavy atmosphere in the room. Touring on their current live EP — “Alive in the Catacombs” — Queens, and the nine orchestra musicians behind them, then leaned into a menacing, Bowie-esque rendering of “Keep Your Eyes Peeled,” which only furthered the Dracula’s-dungeon-under-a-single-candelabra vibe.

It was an ambitious and entirely offbeat show that completely swore off the band’s hits, and still worked in a big way. Responding to a huge ovation after a savage, drawn-out version of “Someone in the Wolf,” Homme quickly picked up on the way the SF crowd was enthusiastically embracing what they were up to, saying, “Of course. This musical town of all places …”

Hailing from Palm Desert, and born of 1990s outsider alternative act Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age have been one of the most singular rock acts of the past 25 years. During the early aughts, they produced five stellar albums in a span of eight years (though they rarely get mentioned for the rock revival of the era), including some sizable hits such as “No One Knows” and “Little Sister.” The band went through numerous lineup changes at the time (seemingly as part of its core concept), conveying to the world the unsung excellence of former Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan through his contributions to the band’s albums, while constantly evolving its sound far beyond the “stoner rock” moniker that Queens were pigeon-holed with early on. As recently as September, the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl called them “the best rock band in the world.”

More recently, frontman and band architect Josh Homme, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2022, reportedly spent seven months in bed in 2024 after receiving urgent medical care for an undisclosed health crisis. With that in mind, it’s hard not to listen to the band’s emotional and introspective recent EP, recorded inside the Paris catacombs, without Homme’s dance with mortality in mind. In a much more direct sense, the album is a showcase of the their fathoms-deep range.

At the symphony hall on Monday night, Queens expanded on the concept in captivating ways, beginning with Homme marching down the orchestra aisle to kick off the evening with the full five songs from the EP under stark lighting with a glorious poise to the arrangements. The band made use of the room’s epic acoustics while delivering on other obscurities from its catalog (as well as a charged version of "Spinning in the Daffodils" from Homme's Them Crooked Vultures side project) by incorporating large string parts, a wide range of percussion and a tuba that sounded like the fog horn in Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse.”

This footing was especially notable when considering that Queens could easily be selling out sports arenas on the sort of greatest-hits novelty tour (“Songs for the Deaf” in its entirety!) that is so prevalent in the industry these days. Monday night’s show made it clear that they have instead taken a far more creative (and even risky) approach. As Homme acknowledged at one point: “Yeah, it’s different’s. It’s … definitely different.” The SF fans at the symphony hall, who showed up dressed for the occasion, embraced it all from the jump — a virtual case study in playing up to your audience rather than down.

The band pulled heaviest from 2005’s “Lullabies to Paralyze” and 2013’s “Like Clockwork,” as Homme stalked the stage with impressive vocal range and a Nick Cave-style command of the crowd. He also had a lot to say about his love of San Francisco: “I’m from a town of tweekers and bikers, and this town is weird to me. You should be proud. Well, you should see a professional.”

After closing out a 16-song set, Homme ventured back out for a single encore, coaxing the crowd to sing along with him and bassist Mikey Shoes for an a capella version of “Long Slow Goodbye.” Watching the rabid ovation from the crowd as the full range of musicians took their final bow, it was clear that not only had someone invited the vampires into the opera house, but they had very clearly feasted once inside.