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Uptown Magazine - Winnipeg's Online Source for Arts, Entertainment & News

May 15, 2008


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2008-05-15

Songs for the fan

Queens of the Stone Age mix it up and deliver the hits, old and new

(Queens of the Stone Age, May 7, Burton Cummings Theatre)

B+

Hard rock shows usually contain more sausage than your local meat market, but Queens of the Stone Age even out the dude-to-dudette ratio, mixing its heavy riffs with a sexual energy that pleases headbangers and hip-shakers alike.

Coming out to the strains of Sly and the Family Stones' Dance to the Music, Queens quickly tore into Era Vulgaris, the title track from its latest album. Do it Again came next, as frontman Josh Homme and the rest of the Queens went back a couple records to Songs for the Deaf, the album that brought Queens into mainstream consciousness (from stoner unconsciousness). Lest you think Queens was about rest on its laurels, the band quickly turned back to Era Vulgaris, busting out 3s & 7s, Turning on the Screw and Misfit Love.

With so much attention paid to new material, it was a wonder if the whole night would be one vulgaris display of power, but Queens eventually pulled out the feel-good hits of summers past. Tunes such as In the Fade, The Bronze and Burn the Witch put big smiles on the faces of old-school stone-agers, and diehard fans will know that Queens' current sextastic single, Make it Wit Chu, isn't exactly new material (see: 2003's The Desert Sessions compilation).

Queens returned to Songs for the Deaf for the encore, playing You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar but I Feel like a Millionaire and Song for the Dead, the latter marked by a fantastic start-stop jam.

With no disrespect to the current Queens lineup, it's hard not to miss ex-bassist Nick Oliveri. His high-energy stage style, screaming vocals and all around weirdness were the perfect complement to Homme's smooth voice and cool-cat demeanor. But if less Nick means less dick, so be it.
— Jared Story

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