Queens of the Stone Age to Become First Band to Play the Paris Catacombs

Queens of the Stone Age are about to do something that no other band has done before: play on the moon! Just kidding, but playing on the moon might be a little more likely than what’s actually happening: they’re going to become the very first band to play the Paris Catacombs.

In a press conference at Hellfest that was reported on by Lambgoat, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme made the shocking announcement about the upcoming concert:

“In a week’s time or so, we’re gonna play in the Paris Catacombs, and we’ll be the first band to do so. And I’ve been working on it for 18 years, trying to get myself inside of this exalted place in Paris. And it’s completely live.”

According to the Paris Catacombs website, the catacombs were created in the late eighteenth century when, due to public health concerns, the city’s cemeteries were moved to an underground site, the former Tombe-Issoire quarries located right outside of the capital. In 1809, the Catacombs became open to the public by appointment only.

So QOTSA will be playing a show literally amongst the remains of bodies from the eighteenth century or earlier. That might be the most metal thing you’ve ever heard, but, with all due respect to Queens of the Stone Age, are they really the band that’s going to raise the dead? For a special concert like this, it would seem like you would expect to have a band with a darker, more demonic image than QOTSA. Death metal amongst the dead, anyone?

Homme also talked about plans to record the performance, and had some unique ideas for how to release the recording:

“I’d like to take some of these ideas, which are sort of ubiquitous, like a live record, and do something a little different with them. Because I think with the way the Internet is, people can see us play live so simply, on so many different ways, that I’d like to do something live that cannot be seen in a way that is not often done.

“And we release those versions. And let the fans control the rest. The fans can control the rest of how to see us live. Come see us play, watch it online. I don’t care how a baby takes his medicine — blown up the ass or down the throat. However you find our music and however you wanna find it is fine for me, but I would like to try to do some of these ideas in a different way. So, that’s why I mentioned the Catacombs.”

So, in one form or another, we’ll be able to watch this historic performance. It promises to be something really unique.