Queens of the Stone Age: Homme and company deliver power punch

Queens of the Stone Age clicked with the efficiency of clockwork as the band projected raw power on to a near-capacity audience.

Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age in Brisbane. Picture: Kylie Keene.

Since it was formed in the Californian desert more than two decades ago, Queens of the Stone Age has been exploring the boundaries of rock music in search of novelty and originality. By blending hard-edged guitar with a keen melodic sensibility, it has reliably succeeded at mapping new terrain.

On Tuesday night in Brisbane, the quintet began the final leg of a world tour totalling more than 100 dates since June last year. During a two-hour performance, the musicians clicked with the efficiency of clockwork as they projected raw power on to a near-capacity audience of about 7000.

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Josh Homme has led a rotating membership during the band’s history. The current group has been in place for five years and is the strongest to date. Flanked by guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen and Dean Fertita, who alternates between guitar and keyboards, Homme carries himself with the swagger of a brawler who happens to sing in a high vocal register. His facility with words and melodies has taken the band from the desert to the world’s stage.

As its frontman — a tall figure dressed in black, topped by a short shock of sweptback ginger hair — he directed a 20-song set that included material from six of seven albums, excluding its 1998 self-­titled debut. Half the set was of songs from the past two albums, with six from last year’s Villains.

Produced by pop mastermind Mark Ronson, Villains contained some of the band’s sharpest songs, yet strangely the recording stripped the rhythm section — particularly Jon Theodore’s drumming — of much of its natural punch. In concert, there were no such concerns, as Theodore and bassist Michael Shuman were pushed high in the mix.

When Homme introduced Theodore as “the best drummer in the f..king world”, following a tumultuous solo beneath a spotlight, few could argue. At 33, Shuman is the youngest member, but his melodic basslines have been in place since 2007. With a gold-toned suit, an expressive vocal range and a willingness to throw his body and instrument around, the bassist was a reliably entertaining fixture at stage left.

Villains opener Feet Don’t Fail Me was extended for several minutes while the musicians revelled in its slow build, backlit by spring-loaded light poles. First single The Way You Used to Do swung with a glam-rock sheen, while The Evil Has Landed impressed with its serpentine guitar parts.

Several rare gems were included, such as the plaintive, keyboard-led In the Fade from 2000’s Rated R, and Broken Box from 2005’s Lullabies to Paralyze. On this world tour, the band has turned to more than 50 of its songs, and running orders have varied considerably from night to night. Not many bands choose to operate in this way, at this level — Seattle rock act Pearl Jam is another notable example — yet this willingness to chop and change keeps each show fresh for both performers and fans.

It was not until the encore break that Homme informed the audience that the band’s third album, Songs for the Deaf, had been released precisely 16 years ago. Five tracks were performed in celebration, including No One Knows, the lead single that topped the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2002. Hundreds of renditions have allowed the musicians to experiment with how best to present this song for maximum impact, and on Tuesday they opted to perform the song as a trio until the first chorus, when Homme’s sole guitar was joined by Van Leeuwen and Fertita.

While the light show was a constant thrill — particularly during A Song for the Deaf, with rapid toggling between blue and red tones dazzling the eye — the set list touched the spectrum of human emotion. When Homme introduced I Appear Missing, the penultimate track from 2013’s … Like Clockwork, he spoke of how that song helped him through a challenging time in his life.

Written during his convalescence after a near-death experience, the song is musically and lyrically powerful. “I go missing / No longer exist,” Homme sang. “One day, I hope / I’m someone you’d miss.”

In concert, it was positioned near Go With the Flow, a slick single from Songs for the Deaf that contained a lyric that now scans as naive bravado: “I want something good to die for / To make it beautiful to live.” As Homme stood at centre stage while leading one of the world’s great rock bands, it appears he had found exactly what he was looking for.

Queens of the Stone Age, Brisbane Riverstage, August 28. National tour continues until September 12.