Queens of the Stone Age to become first act to play the Catacombs of Paris
A venue can make or break a live music experience. It doesn’t matter if it’s the greatest band in the world, if the venue isn’t up to scratch, it is bound to be disappointing. For live music obsessives, the endless experience of sticky floors and cheap lager can grow tiresome very quickly. Luckily, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme has committed the band to a truly unique concert experience.
The past weekend saw Clisson, France, play host to Hellfest. Among a stacked line-up, featuring the likes of Foo Fighters, Avenged Sevenfold and Metallica, sat Queens of the Stone Age. During a press conference at the festival, Josh Homme announced that the band would play a very special concert within the Catacombs of Paris.
Homme told audiences, “In a week’s time or so, we’re gonna play in the Paris Catacombs, and we’ll be the first band to do so,” before adding, “And I’ve been working on it for 18 years, trying to get myself inside of this exalted place in Paris. And it’s completely live”. It is not all that surprising that Queens of the Stone Age will be the first band to play at the Catacombs. After all, it is hardly a venue designed for live music.
Located underneath the streets of Paris, the Catacombs houses the skeletal remains of over six million people, and was first established back in the 18th century. In more recent years, the mass grave has become something of a dark tourist attraction, with companies offering tours of the skeleton-lined tunnels and, back in 2004, a fully-equipped cinema was discovered within the underground cemetery.
Continuing in his plan for Queens of the Stone Age to play the Catacombs, Homme shared, “I think, with the way the Internet is, people can see us play live so simply, on so many different ways, that I’d like to do something live that cannot be seen in a way that is not often done”.
He also announced plans to record and release the performance, saying, “And we release those versions. And let the fans control the rest. The fans can control the rest of how to see us live. Come see us play, watch it online. I don’t care how a baby takes his medicine — blown up the ass or down the throat”.
It remains to be seen how Homme and company will pull off the logistics of staging a full-blown concert in the tight tunnels and tombs of the Paris Catacombs remains to be seen. Either way, it is set to be a live music experience unlike any other. At this stage, the date has not been revealed for the upcoming show in the French capital.
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