Originally written October 7, 2025.
If we think of American rock band Queens of the Stone Age as having two distinct halves to their career thus far–the first, their run of records from their self-titled debut in 1998 to 2007’s “Era Vulgaris” that saw them in a youthful chase for inspiration and new sounds every couple of years, and the second, the sort of unofficial trilogy of records from “Like Clockwork” to “In Times New Roman” that were defined more by lengthier gaps between releases and frontman Josh Homme’s personal struggles fueling a darker, angstier sound–then this live EP/film starts to feel a lot like a post-credits scene. It also just might be a creative high point for the band nearly 30 years into their career.
Delving deep into the catacombs of Paris where the remains of six million people are housed, a trio of string players in tow, the band seeks to mine their catalog for some deep cut material that might appropriately match the energy of the venue. The set list, stretching back to their 2005 release “Lullabies to Paralyze,” contain some real surprises and each one is meticulously arranged.
Opener “Running Joke” has always been a favorite of mine, and its inclusion here is all the more delightful considering it was a bonus song on their 2007 record and here is interlaced with the newer “Paper Machete.” Homme rises from laying down as he sings the first few self-reflective lines of the song for an audience of the dead–“When I was a little boy…”–before being carefully joined by the rest of the band shortly after. The gentle introduction to the show eventually crescendos into Homme addressing the listener, alive or otherwise: “Look at you now…”
The second track is “Kalopsia,” a dreamy standout on 2013’s “Like Clockwork” that is all the better here thanks to the plucky violins and Dean Fertita’s chiming glockenspiel. The instrumentation through each verse has a pleasant springtime feel to it, a bright contrast to the band’s surroundings, but everything is brought back to reality when the shouty chorus hits and the song gives way to the sounds of chains and whining strings cutting through the air.
“Villains of Circumstance” follows, a song I’ve never been super in love with but that brings an appropriate funereal tone to the set. Homme, seated with heavy eyes against a wall of bones, sings like a man at his wits end, strings droning at the back of the room. It’s easily the best rendition of this track there has ever been and the grimmest portion of the set.
Things shift with the next song, “Suture Up Your Future,” which sees Homme emerging from a dark passage to the smallest room of the set where Michael Shuman and Troy Van Leeuwen fill the space with a striding acoustic bass and an arresting space-age synthesizer, before walking out again as the instruments play out the remainder of the song. You understand why this under-appreciated gem from “Era Vulgaris” was included when you see Homme singing about using a knife to the bone and fixing his future in a room of the long-departed. “To feel like you’ve already gone, to the rest of the life that you’ve got, tie the loose ends, bury it all away…”
Closing out the show is “I Never Came” which sees Homme singing about a love he can’t seem to quit, or more broadly an inability to get out of some kind of bad situation, before finding the courage and freedom to pull himself out. It’s an unexpected inclusion like the rest of the set list and a terrific closer, made all the better by the band performing in a claustrophobic hallway, Homme bobbing amongst them enveloped in the music, violin bows poking through the air.
Crucially, the context of Homme’s health issues at this time lend a greater air of importance and urgency to the EP/film. He was hospitalized for an undisclosed health issue immediately after recording Alive in the Catacombs and was in immense pain during the taping, something you can hear in his voice at times and see on his face throughout. It’s also evident after seeing the band perform the songs in Boston this past week–Homme looked and sounded sharp as hell, hitting the high notes of “I Never Came” that he probably couldn’t while underground in Paris. He may have been in a weakened state, but the pain he brought to a concert for the dead certainly made for a more fitting endeavor, something that he himself has agreed with in interviews after the fact.
It’s also just an immaculately produced film with lots of warm lighting and a tight 4:3 aspect ratio that lends itself well to the confines of the space. The sound mixing is outstanding, not only emphasizing the prominence of each instrument but also capturing the dripping condensation and hard footsteps of the catacombs. It’s a wholly immersive experience from start to finish and the band’s most assured and creatively interesting project to date, to say nothing of the outstanding Catacombs Tour that it has inspired–seeing them perform even more deep cups with a similar treatment (and not just with strings but horns as well) in an old theater feels like an unknown dream come true.
Nate Andrews 
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