Live Photos: Queens of the Stone Age at Resorts World Arena, Birmingham
On Sunday, November 19th, the US rock band Queens of the Stone Age swung by Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena for a magnetic set chock full of classic anthems. We were there to witness the action and managed to capture the energy in a series of live shots.
The set began with high-impact tracks, including ‘Regular John’ and ‘No One Knows’. Following an initial burst of seamless hits, frontman Josh Homme paused proceedings to address his 10,000-strong audience. “I’m having a wonderful time, and we’re going to dance around a little bit,” he announced.
The band continued into the night to defy the Sunday blues, and by the middle of the main set, the audience was moving like it was a Saturday night. Homme addressed the audience again later in the set: “It’s OK if tonight is just a ‘Stoney Sunday.’ I say that because I’ve been smoking a lot of weed today.”
Despite the numbing qualities of cannabis, the frontman and his merry men maintained well-rehearsed instrumental command while the vocals projected with supple youth. Later, following a fantastic rendition of ‘Little Sister’, Queens of the Stone Age departed the stage to gauge the audience’s enthusiasm for an encore.
Needless to say, 10,000 fans demanded a swift return, during which four further tracks were played. ‘Made to Parade’ was the last track to be taken from the band’s 2023 album, In Times New Roman… The set was then closed out with ‘Go With the Flow’ and ‘A Song for the Dead’, two beloved songs from the 2002 masterpiece album Songs for the Deaf.
The Birmingham show marked one of several UK dates on the current ‘The End Is Nero’ world tour. Following a stop at 3Arena in Dublin on November 22nd, Queens of the Stone Age return to the US for a string of dates, beginning with a show in Phoenix on December 5th.
Earlier this year, Queens of the Stone Age dropped jaws at Glastonbury Festival on the closing night. Despite a scheduling clash with Elton John, Homme and the band managed to corral a monstrous, animated audience at The Other Stage during what was deemed one of the weekend’s highlight performances.
See some of our shots from Queens of the Stone Age’s performance at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena below.
