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When the Bad Guys Are the Good Guys

Queens of the Stone Age, Royal Blood Take Stage AE by Storm

Mike Kerr of Royal Blood performs Sept. 13 at Stage AE in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

Mike Kerr of Royal Blood performs Sept. 13 at Stage AE in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

Josh Homme and Michael Shuman of Queens of the Stone Age perform Sept. 13 at Stage AE in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

By ERIC AYRES

Staff Writer

Modern day rock’n’roll heroes joined forces during the Pittsburgh stop on what ironically has been named the “Villains World Tour.”

In support of their newly released seventh album “Villains,” Queens of the Stone Age brought British power duo Royal Blood along for the ride that captivated a capacity crowd at Stage AE last week, delivering a one-two punch of the newest offerings in hard rock. A warm late summer evening greeted fans for the outdoor show near the north shore of the three rivers. Although the remnants of Hurricane Irma threatened to test the limits of those at the “rain or shine” show, the skies only offered a few light sprinkles that were just enough to cool off the crowd.

Formed in the late ’90s, Queens of the Stone Age has been churning out “desert rock” gems for more than two decades. In retrospect, the band has consisted of vocalist/ guitarist Josh Homme and whoever he happens to be working with at the moment. There has been a revolving door of musicians who have been considered members or guests of the band, or who have collaborated with Homme on other projects. They most notably include John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin and Dave Grohl of Nirvana with his side project, Them Crooked Vultures, and everyone from Grohl to Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Chris Goss of Masters of Reality and Elton John on various QOTSA albums.

Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age performs Sept. 13 at Stage AE in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

“Villains” brings back a solid cast of characters that has remained in the Queens fold for the past several years. Homme is currently backed by Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar, lap steel, keyboards, percussion), Michael Shuman (bass, backing vocals), Dean Fertita (keyboards) and Jon Theodore (drums).

The new album and tour are the first for Homme since the November 2015 show in Paris by his side project, the Eagles of Death Metal, that resulted in the massacre of 89 fans at the hands of terrorists at the Bataclan concert hall. Although Homme was not present during the show, it has been widely documented how the tragedy had a profound affect on him.

The new album was just released on Aug. 25, giving area fans who planned to attend the show only a couple of weeks to familiarize themselves with an offering of new songs that would dominate a chunk of the night’s set list, as expected.

Although the band performed six of the nine songs from the new album and has stuck tight to a core script of recent favorites on the tour’s set lists, the group has managed to switch it up a little bit each night, rotating random songs in and out of performances in different cities to make each show unique for the fans who attend.

Like few rock bands today, Queens of the Stone Age carries a snarling swagger with their sound that smacks a fresh twist onto old-school hard rock. The riff-driven, think-outside-the-box songwriting gives the band an edge that has helped them earn the respect of fans from many genres of music, as well as other musicians who are more than willing to collaborate on projects with Homme.

Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age performs Sept. 13 at Stage AE in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

A towering figure standing about 6-feet, 4-inches tall, Homme takes everything that was ever cool about Elvis and updates it. He struts on stage like a modern-day, redheaded greaser with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor masked by a completely deadpan snarl.

The band kicked off the night with “Sick, Sick, Sick” from the “Era Vulgaris” album. The band performed “Go With the Flow” before launching into a number of new songs, including sizzling renditions of “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” and “The Way You Used to Do.”

Several tracks on the new “Villains” album stand out as potential singles. Many are nearly dance-worthy with a maniacally bouncy beat. On this album, Homme handles all lead vocals, venturing into falsetto more often than in previous efforts. It’s likely that fans of the band would overwhelmingly agree it is a great album.

“Villains” continues to push the envelope into new territory while keeping the QOTSA formula intact. In most cases, Homme’s writing ritual most likely consists of pulling out the most outlandish guitar riff he can come up with, then popping the leather collar on it by constructing a convincingly great rock’n’roll song around that riff. It works.

Other highlights of the show at Stage AE included “No One Knows,” “My God Is the Sun,” “Little Sister” and “I Wanna Make It Wit Chu.” The moody encore ended with “I Appear Missing,” “Villains of Circumstance” off the new album and a blistering version of “Song for the Dead.”

Mike Kerr of Royal Blood performs Sept. 13 at Stage AE in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

Although hard-core QOTSA fans probably yearned for more selections from the band’s earlier albums, the show certainly offered a ripping scratch for Pittsburgh-area fans itching for the band’s long-awaited return.

It’s safe to say pretty much everyone who attended the show came early to see Royal Blood, the two-piece English rock band that exploded onto the scene in recent years.

Formed in 2013, the band landed opening slots for major tours and music festivals even before releasing its self-titled debut in 2014. It doesn’t exactly hurt your career when rock legends like Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page publicly sing your praises, either. Locally, Royal Blood opened for Foo Fighters in 2015 at KeyBank Pavilion in Burgettstown, Pa. Since then, the band has continued to grow, releasing its sophomore album “How Did We Get So Dark?” in June of this year.

Royal Blood is able to harness an incredible sound with just bass and drums. Comparing them to other rock duos that have found success in recent years like The White Stripes or The Black Keys would be an injustice to Royal Blood, which boasts a sound that has been described as “lava flowing from a volcano.” It’s hard rock with a sinister edge that somehow carries enough melody to make it fit well on mainstream radio.

Bassist Mike Kerr handles vocal duties that come off flawlessly live. He plays bass, and with the flip of a foot switch, makes it sound like it’s being accompanied by a distorted electric guitar. Amazingly, they sound like a full band.

Ben Thatcher of Royal Blood performs Sept. 13 at Stage AE in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

We’re sure to hear much more from them in the future.

Mike Kerr of Royal Blood performs Sept. 13 at Stage AE in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

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