QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Will Be The First Band To Play Concert At Historic Catacombs Of Paris

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE will be the first band to play a concert at the historic Catacombs of Paris.

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE frontman Josh Homme announced the gig during a press conference at last weekend's Hellfest festival in Clisson, France. The performance will also be recorded.

Homme said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "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. 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."

Regarding the fact that the gig will be recorded, Josh said: "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."

In the late eighteenth century, major public health problems tied to Paris's cemeteries led to a decision to transfer their contents to an underground site. Paris authorities chose an easily accessible site that was, at the time, located outside the capital: the former Tombe-Issoire quarries under the plain of Montrouge. The first evacuations were made from 1785 to 1787 and concerned the largest cemetery in Paris, the Saints-Innocents cemetery.

The site was consecrated as the "Paris Municipal Ossuary" on April 7, 1786, and, from that time forward, took on the mythical name of "Catacombs", in reference to the Roman catacombs, which had fascinated the public since their discovery. Starting in 1809, the Catacombs were opened to the public by appointment.

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE are currently on the road in Europe as part of the band's long-running "The End Is Nero" tour.

"The End Is Nero" tour is in support of QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE's eighth studio album, "In Times New Roman…", hailed by Variety as "self-produced by band founder [Josh] Homme and one of his strongest QOTSA lineups ever, is one of the rawest and heaviest albums the band has delivered."

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE performed live for the first time in more than three years on May 26, 2023 at the Sonic Temple festival in Columbus, Ohio. Prior to the Columbus gig, Josh Homme and his bandmates played one gig in early 2020, their first since 2018.

"In Times New Roman…" was made available digitally and physically on June 16, 2023 via Matador Records. The LP was recorded and mixed at Homme's own Pink Duck (RIP),with additional recording at Shangri-La. The album was produced by QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE and mixed by Mark Rankin. Artwork and double LP gatefold packaging was designed by longtime collaborator Boneface. LP vinyl was made available globally in black, green, red, silver and blue.

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE said in its album announcement that the record reflects the heartache its members have experienced in the past few years.

"In Times New Roman..." is "raw, at times brutal and not recommended for the faint of heart," a press release states. "And yet, it's perhaps the most beautiful and definitely the most rewarding album in their epic discography. Homme's most acerbic lyrics to date are buoyed by the instantly identifiable QOTSA sonic signature, expanded and embellished with new and unprecedented twists in virtually every song. With 'In Times New Roman…' we see that sometimes one needs to look beneath scars and scabs to see beauty, and sometimes the scabs and scars are the beauty."

Decades after its emergence from the depths of the desert, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE's self-titled 1998 debut album was reissued on June 21 and is available on double LP directly from QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, Matador Records and local record stores everywhere. The long-out-of-print landmark album features three additional tracks, "The Bronze", "These Aren't The Droids You're Looking For" and "Spiders And Vinegaroons".