Queens Of The Stone Age – Reading 2000 – BBC 6 Music –
Queens Of The Stone Age, in concert at The Reading Festival in 2000 (are you joking? Twenty-six YEARS AGO??). The Palm Desert California band were one of the highlights of a festival that included headliners Oasis and Pulp in what was, in a typical Festival lineup, a Music Festival for people who like Music. Although they’ve never fallen into one particular genre, they have embraced Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal, Stoner Rock and Hard Rock – and do it all with a flair and a musicality that has given them wide appeal on a lot of different levels. Probably more closely aligned with fellow Desert rats Eagles Of Death Metal, they enjoy a kinship in temperament and style.
Although the band have gone through a number of personnel changes over the years, including the untimely death of keyboardist Natasha Schneider and health issues for founder, lead guitarist and singer Josh Homme, Queens Of The Stone Age are alive and kicking, with only Homme the one remaining original member of the band.
This concert, from Reading 2000 features the band four years in. Coinciding with the release of Rated R, they were in the midst of a world tour when this appearance was recorded – as always by BBC 6 Music and broadcast live. Continuing with honing and experimenting, Queens Of The Stone Age were going from emulating established cornerstone bands like Blue Cheer, to delving into electronica, along with trance, hip-hop and the genre of German bands such as Can.
Queens Of The Stone Age are the kind of musical entity that invites you along for a ride to unknown places, sampling the delicacies along the way. It’s a wildly interesting ride with many twists and turns and changes of course. Rides like that are essential in Music – it’s what keeps it all fresh and vital – and takes it out of the realm of the complacent.
Crank it up and enjoy. Here comes the weekend.
