Josh Homme is no stranger to danger. As a teenager growing up in barren Palm Springs, CA, Homme and his cult-hero stoner metal band Kyuss would play “generator parties” in the middle of the desert where drugs, violence, and general lawlessness abounded. As the young gun in Screaming Trees, Homme nearly got himself and singer Mark Lanegan killed by drug dealers who figured the fresh-faced guitarist for a cop. This was merely the beginning of a lifelong saga of rock n’ roll road stories.
But in recent years, the endearing Queens of the Stone Age frontman, now 52, has faced much more serious risks to his life. In 2010, Homme said he briefly died during a leg surgery, and a resulting staph infection left him bedridden for three months and sidelined him from music for almost two years. In November 2015, thanks to the birth of his son, Homme narrowly avoided being onstage with Eagles of Death Metal when the band’s concert in Paris was attacked by Islamist terrorists who opened fire and killed nearly 90 fans. Following a five-year gap in QOTSA tours and albums, Homme revealed in 2023 that he was treated for an unspecified form of cancer the previous year.
When Queens finally came back in 2023 with In Times New Roman… and an accompanying world tour, it seemed like the rock star that death couldn’t kill was at the apex of yet another Rocky moment. Unfortunately, the next knockout was right around the corner.
While on tour in Europe last summer, QOTSA abruptly canceled their tour mid-way so Homme could fly back to the States for emergency surgery. Days before the cancellation, Homme announced at a press conference that Queens of the Stone Age would become the first-ever band to play the Catacombs of Paris. After the cancellation, fans had no idea as to the status of the Catacombs show. Would this be one of rock’s great near-misses? For nearly a year, we sat and wondered. Eventually, Queens announced rescheduled European tour dates and a few U.S. ones, including a set at Bonnaroo. But what about the Catacombs?
Fans’ questions were finally answered earlier this month when Alive in the Catacombs landed on the Queens of the Stone Age website. While fans were stuck in a perilous limbo for a year waiting for news on the project, it turned out Homme had actually been trying to arrange this show for 20 years. So when Homme suffered an internal tear that required immediate surgery while on tour last year, he wasn’t about to let it get in the way of him playing the subterranean resting place of over six million people.
Alive in the Catacombs lays out what Homme is too private to share publicly. Queens taped the five-song, stripped-down performance on July 8th, 2024, one day before they canceled their summer tour. The concert film and accompanying behind-the-scenes documentary show that Homme and the rest of the band were very well aware of his physical condition when they played, and decided to soldier on in what became Josh’s Michael Jordan Flu Game moment and a distillation of the spirit of rock n’ roll.
So with all that in mind, it was a joyous relief to see Josh Homme swagger onstage with Queens of the Stone Age on Tuesday at Columbus, OH’s KEMBA Live! The show was one of only seven domestic concerts the desert rock titans have scheduled this year (an eighth one was slated for Bonnaroo but, well, you know).
The soft-spoken, towering 6-foot-4, gentle giant strolled onstage with the cool confidence that makes him one of rock’s few great remaining frontmen. Without a word, the normally loquacious singer threw on his multi-textured ubiquitous coat of many colors and got right to work on the opening “Little Sister”. Sporting a nearly buzzed haircut and clean facial hair, he looked a healthy contrast to his Rickety Cricket-esque billygoat beard and shaggy hair from the past couple years—doing the same hip gyrations that helped earn him the nickname, “Ginger Elvis.”
Of course, Queens of the Stone Age is much more than just Joshua Michael Homme. Bassist Michael Shuman‘s high-pitched backing vocals balanced out Homme’s snarling, distorted guitar solo on “Smooth Sailing”, while Troy Van Leeuwen‘s slide guitar work reinforced his long-held status as Queens’ secret weapon. While drummer Jon Theodore might not go as wild as he did playing post-hardcore, Latin-infused prog with The Mars Volta, he still manages to pour that same intensity and passion into every (comparatively) simplistic backbeat with Queens, occasionally going off on songs like “Paper Machete”.
Given the necessary acoustic nature of Alive in the Catacombs, Queens of the Stone Age were forced to crack open their expansive songbook and find the right ones to fit the setting. They didn’t just go down there and play a medley of their greatest hits acoustically. That renewed view of their discography has bled into their live shows, with “A Song for the Deaf”, “You Can’t Quit Me Baby”, “3’s & 7’s”, and “Suture Up Your Future” all re-entering the rotation in the past year, with the latter absent for 16 years and making a powerful appearance in Alive in the Catacombs.
Queens Of The Stone Age — “A Song For The Deaf” — 6/17/25
[Video: Max]
As the evening wore on, the show got progressively heavier as Queens started at their latest album In Times New Roman… and progressively worked their way backward in time. Troy’s use of echo on the hard prog riff of “Misft Love” prompted stage-diving from the outdoor amphitheater’s packed pit, while (audience-voted) “The Sky is Fallin'” was fittingly accompanied by the searchlight of a police helicopter over downtown Columbus. Josh’s repetitive, high-gain solo on the fan-requested “You Can’t Quit Me Baby” recalled his buzzy beginnings with Kyuss, while Troy proved his versatility switching from tambourine to lap steel guitar to electric guitar in the span of about 60 seconds on “3’s & 7’s”.
Queens Of The Stone Age — “You Can’t Quit Me Baby” — 6/17/25
[Video: Max]
Finally, after a hard-hitting electrified “Suture Up Your Future”—accompanied by sparing stage bulbs, reminiscent of the Catacombs—it was time for the hits. “Make It Wit Chu” emphasized the inherent femininity at Queens’ core, while the two-fer “Go With the Flow” and “No One Knows” recalled their hitmaking prowess. Lastly, the best part of any Queens of the Stone Age show: “A Song for the Dead”. Even though the pit was packed dick-to-butt (and yes, overwhelmingly dicks), that didn’t stop a few brave souls from doing their best to open up a circle pit in the adrenaline-inducing prog-thrash pounder that is the only way to ever end a concert.
Queens Of The Stone Age — “Suture Up Your Future” — 6/17/25
[Video: Max]
Queens Of The Stone Age — “A Song For The Dead” — 6/17/25
[Video: mickeyrat]
With the last fading hums of feedback, Queens of the Stone Age once again showed they are a band of perseverance. Whether that’s Jon Theodore playing drum parts penned by Songs for the Deaf-era drummer Dave Grohl or Homme singing the words of the late Mark Lanegan, this band’s music—through over a quarter century and myriad lineup changes—refuses to compromise or fade away. Just like Josh Homme himself.
Queens of the Stone Age will head overseas next month to kick off a European summer tour. Find tickets and tour dates here. Alive in the Catacombs is available for purchase on the Queens of the Stone Age website, with the accompanying album out across streaming services.
Setlist: Queens Of The Stone Age | KEMBA Live! | Columbus, OH | 6/17/25
Set: Little Sister, Smooth Sailing, Emotion Sickness, My God is the Sun, I Sat by the Ocean, Paper Machete, If I Had a Tail, Time & Place, Misfit Love, Carnavoyear, The Sky is Fallin’ [1], A Song for the Deaf, You Can’t Quit Me Baby [2], 3’s & 7’s, Suture Up Your Future, Make it Wit Chu, Go With the Flow, No One Knows, A Song for the Dead
[1] Audience vote, replaced The Way You Used to Do
[2] Fan request