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 slow, menacing version 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 it 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 of the Stone Age were pigeon-holed with early on. As recently as September, the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl called them “the best rock band in the world.”…