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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Queens of the Stone Age Couldn't ‘Over-Rehearse' for Paris Catacombs Concert Film: ‘You Go Down There & All the Plans Are Off'
Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme has some sage advice for anyone who finds themselves in a difficult situation. 'If you're going through hell,' Homme says, 'keep going.' More from Billboard Queens of the Stone Age Announce 'Alive in the Catacombs' Concert Film, Album Billboard & Global Venture Partners Launch Billboard Africa Here's What Fans Think of SiR Claiming Drake Had His 2024 Toronto Show Canceled Easy for him to say: He's one of the few lucky souls who has left the Paris Catacombs, the subject of his band's new film and the final home to more than 6 million deceased Parisians following an 18th-century effort to fix Paris' overcrowded, dilapidated cemetery system. Homme has long been fascinated by the underground burial site, visited by more than a half-million people each year, and chose the dark and foreboding underground capsule as the central motif for Queens of the Stone Age's new project Alive in the Catacombs, a concert and concept film directed by Thomas Rames and produced by La Blogothèque. 'This place is like trying to run on a sheet of ice,' Hommes explains in the accompanying documentary Alive in Paris and Before, shot by the band's longtime visual collaborator Andreas Neumann. 'You have no idea how much time has passed up there, up above, and no time has passed below. It's the same time, all the time, every time.' It's easy to get lost in the maze-like film as it wanders through the subterranean tunnels and ossuaries buried deep beneath the City of Light. The film captures Homme at a low point in 2024, having to cancel a major European leg of the band's tour due to a cancer diagnosis from which he has since recovered. Performing in the Catacombs had been a lifelong dream of Homme's, and he pushes though the pain to delivery a carefully arranged performance of music from the band's back catalog, 'stripped down bare, without taking away what made each one wonderful,' band member Dean Fertita explains in the documentary. The band recruited violinist Christelle Lassort and viola player Arabella Bozig to repurpose tracks like 'Paper Machete,' 'Kalopsia' and 'Villains of Circumstance'; while each song was performed acoustically, Homme was adamant the project not simply feel like 'Queens of the Stone Age Unplugged.' 'When you go into the Catacombs, there are 6 million people in there, and I think about, 'What would you want to hear if you were one of those people?'' Homme said Wednesday night (June 4) during a Q&A in Los Angeles following a screening of the film. 'I'd want to hear about family and acceptance and things I care about. A lot of the songs we picked are about the moment you realize there's difficulty and the moment you realize you're past it, so a lot of the songs we picked were about letting the people down there know it's all right and that we care about them.' Homme said the challenges of the performance was that unlike a traditional concert where the band plays to the audience, 'We're in the belly of this thing. The ceiling is dripping and it's an organic thing that's really dominating.' The Paris Catacombs were built during a time of great upheaval in French society, as revolution completely reshaped civic life and laid siege to the political fabric of the French monarchy. There are no coffins or headstones in the Catacombs, with the bones of the princes and kings mixed with peasants and non-nobility. The band shot the entire film in one day, Homme said, securing permission from the historical group that oversees the Paris Catacombs to shoot on a day the space was closed to the public. 'We didn't over-rehearse; we just rehearsed twice,' Homme said. 'It's not supposed to be perfect. You try to make a plan, but you go down there and all the plans are off.' Fans can preorder the film in advance on Queens of the Stone Age's website; fans who order the video before Saturday will also receive the mini-documentary film. Watch the trailer below: Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Queens of the Stone Age Announce ‘Alive in the Catacombs' Concert Film, Album
Queens of the Stone Age have announced the release of their unique live performance in the Catacombs of Paris as a concert film and album. Recorded in July 2024 and set to be released on June 6 via Matador Records/Remote Control Records, the unique performance saw the rock outfit head beneath the surface of Paris to perform within the sprawling 200-mile ossuary. According to a description of the location, its foundation is built out of 'several million bodies buried in the 1700s,' with many of the walls composed of skulls and bones. More from Billboard Adam David Delivers Teddy Swims' 'Lose Control' on 'The Voice' as Finalists Are Set Blake Shelton Drops 'Texas' on 'Fallon,' Says Post Malone Fueled His Return Amyl and the Sniffers, Royel Otis Lead Finalists for 2025 AIR Awards Frontman Josh Homme had dreamed of organizing such a performance since visiting almost two decades earlier, though was denied permission by the city of Paris, who had never previously allowed a band to play within. However, the respect the band held for the location ultimately resulted in their performance officially being sanctioned. 'The Catacombs of Paris are a fertile ground for the imagination,' said Hélène Furminieux of Les Catacombes de Paris. 'It is important to us that artists take hold of this universe and offer a sensitive interpretation of it. Going underground and confronting reflections on death can be a deeply intense experience. 'Josh seems to have felt in his body and soul the full potential of this place. The recordings resonate perfectly with the mystery, history, and a certain introspection, notably perceptible in the subtle use of the silence within the Catacombs.' The unique nature of the location results in Homme and his bandmates – Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita and Jon Theodore – being backed by three-piece string section as they perform a stripped-back set planned and played with deference to the Catacombs. Recorded live with no overdubs or edits, the performance is paired with the acoustic ambience of dripping water, echoes and natural resonance as atmospheric lighting spotlights the band. 'We're so stripped down because that place is so stripped down, which makes the music so stripped down, which makes the words so stripped down,' Homme explains. 'It would be ridiculous to try to rock there. All those decisions were made by that space. That space dictates everything, it's in charge. You do what you're told when you're in there.' Queens of the Stone Age: Alive in the Catacombs will be available to rent or purchase via the band's website, with an audio-only release to be announced in the coming weeks. Notably, this isn't Queens of the Stone Age's first subterranean gig, with the group previously performing 2,300 feet underground at German salt mine, Erlebnisbergwerk Sondershausen, in November 2007. Originally planned for wider release, the semi-acoustic performance is yet to see the light of day, with the band's split with Interscope Records assumed by fans to be the reason for its indefinite delay. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Scoop
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Queens Of The Stone Age Announce 'Alive In The Catacombs', Out June 6
" If you're ever going to be haunted, surrounded by several million dead people is the place. I've never felt so welcome in my life." — Joshua Homme Queens of the Stone Age will unveil the cinematic realisation of a dream with the June 6 premiere of Alive in the Catacombs, an audiovisual document of the band's long-rumoured performance in the tunnels of the famed Catacombs of Paris. Filmed and recorded in July 2024, Queens of the Stone Age: Alive in the Catacombs captures QOTSA as you've never seen or heard them before. This utterly unique once in a lifetime experience features a carefully selected setlist spanning the QOTSA catalogue, each song chosen and epically reimagined for the Catacombs. The result is an unprecedented incarnation of QOTSA at their most intimate, yet surrounded by literally millions of human remains—' the biggest audience we've ever played for,' says Joshua Homme. The Catacombs of Paris is a sprawling 320km (200 miles) ossuary beneath the surface of Paris. With a foundation of several million bodies buried in the 1700s, skeletal remains are largely exposed, with much of the walls built of skulls and bones. Homme had dreamt of staging a QOTSA performance in the Catacombs since his first visit nearly 20 years ago. The city of Paris, however, had never granted permission to any artist to play within the sacred tunnels. QOTSA, being law-abiding citizens, waited until their vision was sanctioned. Hélène Furminieux (Les Catacombes de Paris) said: " The Catacombs of Paris are a fertile ground for the imagination. It is important to us that artists take hold of this universe and offer a sensitive interpretation of it. Going underground and confronting reflections on death can be a deeply intense experience. Josh seems to have felt in his body and soul the full potential of this place. The recordings resonate perfectly with the mystery, history, and a certain introspection, notably perceptible in the subtle use of the silence within the Catacombs.' Every aesthetic decision, every choice of song, every configuration of instruments… absolutely everything was planned and played with deference to the Catacombs—from the acoustics and ambient sounds — dripping water, echoes and natural resonance — to the darkly atmospheric lighting tones that enhance the music. Far from the sound-insulated confines of the studio or the comfort of onstage monitors, Alive in the Catacombs sees the band not only rise to this challenge, but embrace it. Homme recalls, ' We're so stripped down because that place is so stripped down, which makes the music so stripped down, which makes the words so stripped down… It would be ridiculous to try to rock there. All those decisions were made by that space. That space dictates everything, it's in charge. You do what you're told when you're in there. ' The result is QOTSA distilled down to their most elemental form—Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita and Jon Theodore augmented by a three-piece string section, employing chains and chopsticks as makeshift percussion instruments. Alive in the Catacombs is Queens of the Stone Age stripped to their barest essence by necessity (you can't call it 'unplugged' if there are no actual electrical outlets to plug into), McGyver-ing a car battery to power an electric piano. And unfiltered, as every song was recorded live in a complete take with no overdubs or edits. Words fail to convey the magnificence of Queens of the Stone Age: Alive in the Catacombs. Its truly stunning balance of subtlety and grandeur must be experienced to be appreciated. The beauty is in the struggle (both internal and external). This is Joshua Homme at his most physically vulnerable yet ultimately his most triumphant. Queens of the Stone Age: Alive in the Catacombs was produced by La Blogothèque and directed by Thomas Rames, and is being released by Queens of the Stone Age and Matador Records / Remote Control Records. The film will be available to rent or purchase via where pre-orders are currently available. Fans who purchase Alive In the Catacombs by June 7th will receive exclusive access to behind the scenes footage in addition to full streaming and download access. An audio only version will be announced in the coming weeks.
