News

Josh Homme confirms QOTSA will be the first band ever to play the Catacombs of Paris

Queens Of The Stone Age are set to perform a gig at Paris’ historic Catacombs – something Josh Homme has been working to make happen “for 18 years”.

In a recent press conference for France’s Hellfest, Josh Homme has revealed that Queens Of The Stone Age will be the first band ever to play the Catacombs of Paris very soon.

Of course, QOTSA have already made quite the impression in France during their current visit to the country, inspiring a packed wall of death during A Song For The Dead in their Hellfest sub-headline set. And their impact will be felt further this month, as the frontman said on July 2 that they’d be performing in the Catacombs – which holds the remains of over six million people – in “a week’s time or so”.

Via ThePRP, Josh announced, “…we’re gonna play in the Paris Catacombs, and we’ll be the first band to do so. 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.”

He also confirmed it’d be recorded, explaining: “I’d like to take some of these ideas, which are sort of ubiquitous – like a live record – and do something a little different with them. Because 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.

“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. However you find our music and however you wanna find it is fine for me, but I would like to try to do some of these ideas in a different way. So, that’s why I mentioned the Catacombs.”

Watch the full press conference below, with the Catacombs chat coming in around 18 minutes:

QOTSA’s Hellfest set last weekend follows their Download Festival headline debut in June.

In our review, we wrote that, “Some questioned whether Queens should have been headlining this festival. Too long since they last played, they said, not quite in tune with the fest, they reckoned. Fuck that. Tonight they gave Download both barrels, ending with an absolutely apocalyptic A Song For The Dead that matches its fever-pitch ending with a light show that probably contains a new primary colour.”

Read this: The big review: Download Festival 2024