Queens of the Stone Age at Don Valley Bowl: "The best rock band in the world"

Rain hammered down on the Electric Carousel stage as the Queens of the Stone Age day at Sheffield's Rock N Roll Circus began, but it did not dampen the mood of the crowd.

Leeds-based Fuzz Lightyear was the first band to take the stage with their industrial post-punk. A scratching bassline with droning guitar took the crowd into the band's newest single, ‘Berlin 1885’. The track evolved from raw, tearing vocals into shoegaze-inspired guitar textures and an oscillating synth as it faded. Bassist Varun Govil finished the set by destroying his bass cable, grinding the end, and repeatedly stomping it to the ground. An explosion of sound rang from the speakers; the band was every sound engineer's nightmare in the best way possible.

Fat Dog began their set with 'Vigilante'; from the first line, the audience were engulfed in the sea of pushing and shoving expected from a Fat Dog gig. The song built to a climax where the klezmer-inspired violin and sax riffs joined, followed by frontman Joe Love delivering his punky shouting vocals.

Although miles away in terms of genre from the headliners, Fat Dog proved to be the perfect support. Fat Dog stem from the Windmill scene and, here, they were allowed to form an edge and intensity characteristic of most post-punk bands that emerged from this scene. Instead of honing the post-punk genre that their peers went on to do, Fat Dog chose to focus more on electronica and synth.

Just after the performers finished walking on a tightrope across the top of the circus, a birthday cake was raised from the crowd towards Viagra Boys frontman Sebastian Murphy, and he took the offering and got a slice. He blew out the candles without a second thought. Who brings a birthday cake to such a large gig? That’s what Viagra Boys attract; they command a crowd better than any band in the world right now.

Murphy struggled to get back onto the stage, and as he slumped over the stage whilst climbing, the first pulsating synth from 'Ain't No Thief' sounded out. Almost instantaneously, smaller mosh pits started circling. As Murphy put it, "this song is about—absolutely nothing". But that’s the point, the lyrics don’t matter in a Viagra Boys song: it’s all about sheer fun and entertainment, but that doesn’t stop them from intertwining classic punk-rock band instrumentation with saxophone, synth, and flute.

Following this, Queens Of The Stone Age took to the stage, opening with 'You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire' sung by ex-bassist Nick Oliveri. Frontman Josh Homme instead took a more subdued approach to the vocals, straying away from the grit and harsh intensity of Oliveri’s voice. The band stormed through their catalogue, sometimes telling stories between songs, but still pacing with incredible momentum through their long setlist.

Dave Grohl once referred to Queens of the Stone Age as "the best rock band in the world", a high accolade from someone who has been a member of Nirvana and currently fronts rock-and-roll titans Foo Fighters. In Sheffield, they proved Grohl right by demonstrating their incredible musicality and complexity within a crowded and unoriginal nineties rock scene.

'Like Clockwork' is Queens of the Stone Age’s magnum opus. A bold statement, considering the band's extensive discography, but given the album's expansive and consistently genre-defying nature, it is undeniable. 'Vampyre of Time and Memory' left a mark on everyone who watched, the song being a power ballad reminiscent of David Bowie. The song weaves a main line on the piano with synths in the background that could only be compared to composers such as Giorgio Moroder. The guitar solo at the climax, along with the song's synths, evokes the sound of eighties progressive rock bands in the style of Pink Floyd.

'If I Had A Tail' was another highlight from this album within the set, featuring a sound more akin to post-punk and sharing similarities with support act Viagra Boys. Drummer Jon Theodore holds down the groove, with the strange riff propelling the song through. On the studio version, Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys carries out the song with a haunting, reverberating vocal line. The Arctic Monkeys are great friends of the Queens, even reaching "extended family" status; they were a consistent theme of the evening and were inevitably the reason that the band chose to play Sheffield for the two nights of the Rock N Roll Circus.

Throughout the set, former member Mark Lanegan’s everlasting presence loomed over the band; since Lanegan died in 2022, the band has often paid tribute to Lanegan and, after a banner was raised in his honour, they felt compelled to play a song originally performed by him.

The band's ability to play their back catalogue, considering that every member other than Homme was not even in the band when these songs were written, is astonishing. Homme said they’ll play one they "haven’t played in years", following up with 'Hanging Tree', a song from their iconic album Songs For The Deaf and one that features Lanegan on lead vocals. Though the vocals differed from Lanegan’s iconic baritone and scratchy voice, Homme and the band did the song justice.

Queens of the Stone Age finished with crowd favourite 'Song For The Dead', during which the crowd was whisked up into an intense circle pit. Jon Theodore perfectly recited the iconic drum intro curated by Dave Grohl in the early line-up of the band, commanding all attention from the crowd in a perfect send-off for the night. The band showed off their musical complexity and ballads, bringing out piano and lap steel, but, in the end, they returned to their musical roots through an old form of heavy California stoner-rock music.

The line-up for Queens of the Stone Age at Rock N Roll Circus was simply incredible, showcasing incredible talent whilst still hosting massive names on the undercard, but the one certainty that was cemented is that Queens of the Stone Age will always be remembered as one of the greatest rock bands of all time.