Queens Of The Stone Age
Royal Albert Hall, London
29th November 2025

Queens Of The Stone Age bring their Catacombs Tour to London’s Royal Albert Hall, sharing the intimacy of their latest EP with one of the world’s grandest venues. Nils van der Linden reviews a transformative, once-in-a-lifetime performance.

Last year Josh Homme fulfilled a long-held dream: to perform in the Paris Catacombs, a place he’d been intrigued by since childhood. Nothing was able to stop him — not even French bureaucracy or life-threatening illness. He flew back to the United States for emergency surgery the day after recording what would become the five-track Alive In The Catacombs EP.

In the accompanying film, his obvious frailty matches the confined, stripped-down location, the selection of quieter songs, and the minimalist musical arrangements. Even stormy rocker Paper Machete becomes an organ-led waltz with plucked strings and woodblock.

“That space dictates everything, it’s in charge,” Homme told Billboard. “You do what you’re told when you’re in there.”

The experience clearly had an effect: the Queens Of The Stone Age leader has, in part, tried to recreate it night after night on the band’s current Catacombs Tour, albeit in venues that are considerably less cramped and damp. So, as the three-Act performance begins, a dark Royal Albert Hall fills with the sound of chirping crickets, ominous rumbling, and, finally, a tolling bell. Homme walks through the audience onto a stage dimly lit by a few flickering candles. Holding a lamp up to his face, he sings the opening lines of Running Joke alone. Gradually, as the song transforms into Paper Machete, he’s joined by organ, acoustic guitars, and strings and it becomes apparent that they’ll be performing Alive In The Catacombs in its entirety and in sequence.

But, while the stark instrumentation echoes the Paris recordings, the musicians play with far less restraint, once again dictated by the space they’re in. Homme especially sounds unbridled, showing off his vocal range and power in a way that’s not always apparent during a standard Queens Of The Stone Age rock show. Villains of Circumstance sounds particularly sublime, the singer’s voice, gently buffeted by keys and a string trio, easily filling the Hall.

Yet, as magnificent as Act I sounds, Homme knows that the bare-bones approach can’t be sustained for a two-hour show. So, as the final Catacombs EP track (a buoyant I Never Came) fades out with the lights, Act II begins with the sound of a full orchestra warming up. And, as frankly terrifying brass stabs and a claustrophobic wall of strings replace Someone’s In The Wolf’s staccato drumming and sludgy guitar riffs, it’s again obvious that tonight’s a special and unique experience.

The classical musicians on stage aren’t here to add a few flourishes in a feeble attempt to revitalise overly familiar hits. They’re not here because Homme’s on a self-indulgent vanity tip (or has been able to save money on the mood lighting). They’re here to wholly transform the carefully selected songs. And the frontman completely plays along, not just matching the music’s thrust but its theatricality and danger too. As the opening song of Act II — sounding not unlike an even more carnal version of Nick Cave’s The Carny — evolves into A Song For The Deaf and Straight Jacket Fitting, Homme almost-dances across the stage; caresses, swings, and throws a meat cleaver; and walks into the arena to get right in people’s faces.

The showmanship, audience invasion, and full orchestration continue on Mosquito Song (which embraces beauty rather than danger); a half-time Keep Your Eyes Peeled (full-blown croon, Psycho-style violins, foreboding horns, lush cello solo); and Them Crooked Vultures’ Spinning In Daffodils (the riff dizzyingly recreated by the full orchestra playing it in unison, the original’s transformation into atmospheric sections completely reimagined) ending with Homme in the area behind and above the stage.

The singer strapping on his guitar signals the start of Act III, the closest tonight gets to a standard Queens Of The Stone Age gig as the orchestra step back a little to give the familiar desert rock sound some room to breathe. “You Got a Killer Scene There, Man…” is all swampy groove and searing solos; Hideaway’s instrumental outro is buoyed by a rich, yet tasteful, orchestral section; and The Vampyre Of Time And Memory, with Homme on piano, turns transcendent as the violins join in, later duetting masterfully with electric guitar.

The musicians behind the band make themselves even more known with their Live And Let Die-style contribution to Auto Pilot, sung by bassist Michael Shuman, before downing their instruments to provide rhythmic handclaps on mariachi-flavoured new song Easy Street. The string section recreate (but drastically improve) the synth bed that the studio version of Fortress lies on, while finally injecting even more drama into the piano- and falsetto-led …Like Clockwork.

By the time the encore rolls around, just Homme (armed with bells) and Shuman (woodblock in tow) are left on stage for a spare Long Slow Goodbye. Lifted by Matt Berry on the Royal Albert Hall’s 9,999-pipe organ, it’s the perfect marriage between the intimacy of the Catacombs and the magnitude of tonight’s venue. Homme, the band, and the orchestra have pulled off a performance so sublime and transformative that it’s only on the way home I realise they’d not shoehorned in any of their biggest hits (from Go With The Flow to Feel Good Hit Of The Summer). And, honestly, this once-in-a-lifetime experience was all the better for it.

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Words by Nils van der Linden. You can visit his author profile for Louder Than War here and his website here.

All photos © Paul Grace. For more of Paul’s writing and photos go to his archive. Paul is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and his websites are www.paulgrace-eventphotos.co.uk & www.pgrace.co.uk.