Album reviewQOTSA in Paris for a one-off concert in the catacombs. The announcement made quite a splash in 2024 being a first in the ‘venue’s’ history. But such a performance couldn’t have been staged with an audience, so everything was filmed in July 2024. One year later, Alive in the Catacombs is out; a unique acoustic mini-album accompanying the video (they weren’t about to shake the foundations of Paris by blasting the amps out loud), for which Josh Homme and his crew carefully adapted the selected songs.
With five tracks (or rather six, since the opener is actually a medley of "Running Joke" and "Paper Machete"), the American band presents their more pop-oriented and subdued side, full of the striking class we discovered back in the ...Like Clockwork era (only one track from that album, "Kalopsia", is part of this performance). Jon Theodore swaps his drum kit for two or three subdued percussive elements, while Michael Shuman lends his voice rather than his bass. Homme struts his distinctive tone as well as his distinctive silhouette through this small ensemble, accompanied by elegant violins (especially on the beautiful closer "I Never Came").
Don’t expect any of the rock anthems or songs from the band’s first three albums, which so heavily contribute to their legend. But with these reimagined versions, Queens of the Stone Age show that, in addition to having a real sense for arrangement, they’ve got songwriting down to a science and can tailor tracks to the most eccentric settings. There’s no finer proof of it than Alive in the Catacombs.
©
Guillaume Ley/Qobuz 
](torrents/images/769060.jpg)