October 11, 2002

Queens Of The Stone Age/...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead : New York Roseland Ballroom

...monolithic and intense...

Outside, the streets are flooded with policemen. They're breaking down blockades from the NFL Kick-off Celebration in Times Square that's just finished, an event at which hundreds of thousands of people cheered for American football and gawped as headline performer Jon Bon Jovi's manly mug was broadcast on enormous screens. Fortunately, the men in blue have no inkling of the lawlessness going on inside Roseland tonight, or there might be quite a raid.

"Fuck the NFL Kick-off! I'll give them something to kick off... they can kick off my balls!" screams Josh Homme, shortly after Queens of the Stone Age terrifically lay waste to the best ever song about getting wasted, 'Feel Good Hit of The Summer'.

Not long before, ...Trail of Dead decimate the stage as the crowd bay for blood - Conrad Keely ends the set riding a crest of hands in the pit, Jason Reece rants and kicks at the drum kit, bassist Neil Busch disappearing under a toppled amp. It's de rigeur Dead demolition, of course, but tonight it has the electric atmosphere of a band in the right place at the right time. The pairing of ...Trail of Dead with Queens is an inspired partnership, for both bands are trail-blazers (pun intended), redefining what it is to rock for a generation sick to the gills with unimaginative nu-metal thuggery. Queens bring sinister pop songs and pointy beards to the party, while ...Trail of Dead provide cerebral punk nihilism. Together, they're double the threat to law-abiding citizens, and double the fun.

It's a night of black - black clothing, black moods, black lights, black humour. Queens come on in pitch darkness, then spend most of their set in silhouette and when Mark Lanegan joins them - as he does for nearly every song - he hangs on his microphone like a wraith. It doesn't matter that there's not much to look at, though, as the rock speaks for itself- from the giddy, sexed-up flush of 'Monsters in the Parasol' to the blissed out guitar solos of 'Better Living Through Chemistry', the Queens are in fine form.

Without the incomparable Dave Grohl on drums, of course, their iconic veteran count is lower than their last outing. Grohl's first replacement allegedly "didn't hit hard enough" and was canned a few days before the tour started, but new drummer Joey Castillo - who is clearly something of a genius for learning the songs so quickly - takes to his new job like a man possessed.

Arguably, Lanegan overstays his welcome somewhat, as his presence onstage seems to draw energy away from Josh and Nick Oliveri. His lugubrious baritone is brilliantly untouchable, especially on 'Into The Fade' and 'Hangin' Tree', but one can't help but want a little more of the lightness and humour embodied in songs like 'The Lost Art of Keeping A Secret'.

This is but a minor criticism, however - it's difficult to find fault with something so monolithic and intense. With 'Songs for the Deaf' (which is precisely what we all are, blissfully, after they leave the stage), Queens of the Stone Age have truly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. They just keep getting stronger.

April Long