Queens Of The Stone Age are about to wrap up their ...Like Clockwork Tour which is currently wandering through Europe and about to do the same in South America. Those of us in the lonely USofA, haven't heard their jams live on these shores since their performance in Austin last October. So, we have only our memories (and YouTube clips) to rely on if needing a nice fix of quality rock music. It's time, then, for a stroll down memory lane. Tissues, please.
Here's a nice clip of the band from seven years ago (wait, what?) performing "Misfit Love" on the Henry Rollins show. The song, from their Era Vulgaris LP, has since become one of their showstoppers, a nice little potboiler, building to a frenetic and monotonous tension. At the 4:46 mark, it all gives way to a beautiful, breath-of-fresh-air melodic ending complete with harmonies and lines such as "Just a deadman walking through the dead of night, it's impossible to wait for the light..." That's the thing about Josh Homme (guitarist/singer/QOTSA mainstay): his ear for a melody is amazing, especially given his ability to mix it with an otherwise rugged and impenetrable song structure.
Another good thing about this clip is the lack of fancy-pants editing and quick-cuts still so prevalent on televised live performances; that kinda stuff just distracts from the Rock and leads to headaches; and nobody wants a headache when QOTSA are kicking out the jams in front of them, right? Right. So, let's chew on this while we wait around for the band's next batch of shows. Although, if yer lucky enough to live in the Los Angeles area, you've been given the chance to see QOTSA's final show of the world tour on Halloween in what looks to be perhaps an over-stimulating night of rock music, garish entertainment, hot dames and a haunted house. Jeepers, if only more bands knew how to end a tour in this kinda style.