As Queens Of The Stone Age launch a brand new stripped-down live performance movie, Josh Homme recounts his “near-life expertise” within the Paris catacombs…
“About 18 years in the past, I used to be making an attempt to go to the catacombs on a break day in Paris, and the road was three hours lengthy. So the un-humble beginnings [of this performance] was like, ‘How can we reduce this line?’ Maybe the best present of enjoying in a band is that it offers us entry to such unbelievable areas and conditions. There’s no finish to the juicy tales in regards to the catacombs. There’s been speak of secret conferences and late evening raves, however we’re the primary individuals to legally play there. It feels actually good for me to do one thing authorized!
“The catacombs is the star of the present, so all the selections we made had been about respecting the area. Initially, you possibly can’t plug something in – we had an electrical piano that was hooked to a automobile battery. The flooring had been moist in some areas, such as you had been on this residing, respiration factor. It felt like we’re not imagined to roll out the hits, we’re not imagined to play loud.
“The origin story of most of our songs begins by sitting on the sting of the mattress, enjoying acoustic guitar. If one thing works there, it really works all over the place. However I really feel that [in this setting] these songs actually change their heaviness, they modify their depth. When issues are stripped away, lyrics step ahead, feelings run a lot hotter and better. I’ve at all times felt that we’re a band that had a whole lot of emotion on its sleeve, however by some means we’re not as recognized for our softer aspect as perhaps we must be.
“I couldn’t have loved it extra, though I used to be in a really powerful state of affairs personally. I’ve performed with all method of accidents earlier than, however this was completely different. I ended up within the hospital in Rome, and by the point I bought to Paris, I performed with a 102.8 temperature. I couldn’t fairly shake it, it doesn’t matter what medicines they had been making an attempt to present me. But when I’m being sincere, it really felt like a present to really feel so horrible, as a result of I bought to point out what I’m really able to.
“I had a cot in there as a result of I wanted to put down between takes. We broke for lunch, nevertheless it’s about 130 steps up a spiral staircase so I stated, ‘I’m gonna keep down right here’. It was simply me and 6 million useless, however I by no means felt so welcome in my life. The subsequent day I used to be being emergency-flown to Los Angeles, and three hours after touchdown I used to be beneath the knife. However there’s one thing about being hit with the kitchen sink that I simply love. I’m not enthusiastic about dying, however the view from there may be fucking superb. So it was extra like a near-life expertise than a near-death expertise. I feel what we ended up with is one thing as actual because it will get.”
