Queens of the Stone Age will unveil the cinematic realization of a dream with the June 5 premiere of Alive in the Catacombs, an audiovisual document of the band’s long-rumored 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 catalog, 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.
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.
Comments are closed.