Queens of the Stone Age Perform Theatrically on The Tonight Show
The air crackles with a different kind of electricity on a late-night television stage, a space more accustomed to polite chuckles than primal riffs, but when Queens of the Stone Age commandeered The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, they didn't just play a set—they staged a rock 'n' roll séance. This wasn't merely a promotional stop for their 2023 album 'In Times New Roman…'; it was a deliberate, theatrical statement, a masterclass in sonic dynamics that felt more like a condensed, blistering opera than a standard TV spot.Kicking off with the raw, angular aggression of 'Paper Machete,' Josh Homme and his current cadre of desert-rock shamans immediately established a mood of controlled chaos, Homme’s voice a sultry snarl slicing through the tight, funky grind of the rhythm section, a performance so taut it felt like a wire about to snap. Then, in a move that separates the archivists from the opportunists, they plunged headlong into the deep cuts, resurrecting 'Running Joke' from the oft-overlooked, industrial-tinged labyrinth of 2007's 'Era Vulgaris.' This wasn't a random selection from the back catalog; it was a curatorial choice, a reclamation of a track that embodies the band's more cynical, mechanized side, and its placement alongside the fresh venom of 'Paper Machete' created a narrative arc, a dialogue across sixteen years of their career that highlighted their enduring fascination with the grotesque and the beautiful. Theatricality has always been the secret weapon in QOTSA's arsenal, from the sledgehammer swing of 'Songs for the Deaf' to the glam-tinged swagger of '…Like Clockwork,' but here it was amplified for the mainstream gaze, a reminder that rock, in its purest form, is performance art.Homme, ever the languid svengali, wielded his guitar not just as an instrument but as a prop, his stage presence a blend of Iggy Pop's menace and a Vegas crooner's cool, while the band behind him locked into a groove so deep and intuitive it felt less like playing and more like a shared, rhythmic possession. This performance serves as a potent rebuttal to the notion that rock is a dying language on modern television; instead, Queens of the Stone Age demonstrated its enduring power to disrupt, to mesmerize, and to transform a brightly lit soundstage into a temple of controlled feedback and raw, unadulterated power, a two-song suite that will undoubtedly be dissected by fans and critics as a landmark late-night appearance for years to come.
JA
Jamie Larson123k2 days ago
wait what's the actual evidence that rock is dying on tv tbh i feel like i see bands on these shows all the time
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