Advertising the tour as taking place in classier theaters in which the band would not normally perform their standard rock shows, and that the audience should dress up for the occasions accordingly, the atmosphere of the night was vastly different from a standard QOTSA concert. Fans who arrived in dresses and suits, shirts and ties, sexy gothic ensembles, and even Halloween costumes filled the seats, and those who made it in early enough were treated to a 40-minute opening set by Paris Jackson, daughter of Michael, who performed original material solo with only an acoustic guitar (and coincidentally was named after the home of the catacombs themselves). If that wasn't unique enough, the main performance began with a theatrical tone that lasted throughout and which was divided into three "acts," not unlike many plays, musicals, or operas. The first act wisely featured the entire five-track Catacombs EP, in sequence, performed essentially as it was in Paris and as it appears on the official release, with "Kalopsia" from ...Like Clockwork standing out as the best. Featuring that material right away led to even greater anticipation because fans assumed they'd heard those songs no matter what, but that left the rest of the show open to surprises, one after another.
Act two began when the musicians from the first act stepped off to the side of the stage and the curtain in front of which they'd been performing was raised to reveal a full drum kit with additional percussion and space for a small horn section and additional vocalists to join the string quartet who had already been part of act one. While some of the guest musicians came and went from the stage depending on the song being performed, in addition to the five primary members of the band, there were at times as many as 20 people on stage singing and/or playing in unison. While this certainly created a full and lush sound during each song, it also added to the theatrical tone and vibe of the concert itself. It felt almost like watching a filmed performance or a musical number that was part of a movie than any sort of standard or traditional concert. That the band were able to maintain this throughout the entire show is impressive in itself, but the song selection made the event even more of a fan's dream.
Building on the portmanteau-ed blend of the B-side "Running Joke" with "Paper Machete" from In Times New Roman..., which opens the acoustic EP, additional combinations of two or three different songs being mixed together were featured during the show's second act. Starting with "Someone's in the Wolf," which segued into a bit of "A Song for the Dead" and a few bars from "Straight Jacket Fitting" before returning to "Wolf" to conclude the piece, it was clear this show would be even more elaborate and intricately planned than was seen in the first act, especially with the expanded lineup of musicians. Areas of songs that would normally be full of guitars, keyboards, and drums were replaced with bombastic and even cacophonous bursts of horns, strings, and percussion, retaining the dynamic that exists in their original forms but presenting it in a new and different way. "Mosquito Song," an obvious choice for this type of show, however, was performed almost exactly the way it was written and recorded in 2002. More surprising were songs like the usually guitar-heavy "Keep Your Eyes Peeled," with key parts replaced by strings and horns, and even more so, the inclusion of "Spinning in the Daffodils," a song from Homme's side project Them Crooked Vultures, which QOTSA had never previously performed (in this case, mixed with a bit of "The Blood Is Love" from 2005's Lullabies to Paralyze). That particular piece may have been the peak of the show, but in the moment, it was only the conclusion of the second act.
Long-time Queens members including Troy Van Leeuwen, Mikey Shuman, and Detroit's own Dean Fertita (specially recognized at his hometown show) each adjusted perfectly to the alternate arrangements of the songs and in some cases added new elements to them since the parts they normally play on guitar, bass, or keyboard may have been taken by one of the horns or violins. For a show like this one that could have easily seen the band members playing what they would normally play anyway and simply doubling or tripling one part or another on top of the horns and strings, it's notable the band members would utilize the opportunity to add new elements to the songs instead, something that would certainly take more time and concentration to do, much less to do well. Drummer, Jon Theodore, still the "new guy" in the band after 12 years of service, particularly benefitted from such opportunities, as he was barely featured on the Catacombs EP, and since the alternate arrangements of these songs often left little room for the showy hard rock drumming he normally provides. It was clear he was excited to add to the movement of the songs in different ways throughout acts two and three.
The third and final act of the show continued to deliver a blend of material, but there were no more pieces with multiple songs blending together, and most of the tracks were deep cuts from the band's fourth, sixth, and seventh albums, such as "Fortress" and "Hideaway" from Villains and the title track from Like Clockwork..., already a piano ballad appropriate for a quieter concert. The rarely performed "You Got a Killer Scene There, Man..." was a highlight because of its scarcity, but two big surprises from this portion of the show included a brand new song, "Easy Street," which had only debuted the previous night in Chicago, and a very unexpected take on "Autopilot" from the band's second LP, a track written and originally sung by former bassist Nick Oliveri and the late Mark Lanegan. In this case, current bassist Mikey Shuman sang Oliveri's lead part and changed to Lanegan's backing vocal part during the final few measures of the song. This is essentially unheard of in QOTSA history where none of Oliveri's original material had been performed by the band since his departure in 2004. It was an absolute delight to hear them playing it again, even without him.
In spite of the excellent song selections, it was somewhat surprising a few key tracks that would easily have fit the tone of this concert were left out. Most notably, "Lightning Song," "Burn the Witch," and "This Lullaby" all would have worked well in this setting, but perhaps the band felt they were a bit too obvious to include and opted for others.
After a brief encore break, feeling almost like an after-thought, Homme and Shuman came back to the stage alone to perform a shortened version of "Long Slow Goodbye," accompanied only by Homme's sleighbell percussion. While a few fans attempted to clap along to the beat, the majority of the audience did not join in during the Detroit show, where video from other stops on the tour featured more rhythmic participation from the crowd. This fan-favorite deep cut was an appropriate, if not perfect, ending to a unique and very special performance that could really only come from QOTSA, though others may come up with interesting variations if they chose to attempt it with their own material. Fans old and new were overwhelmed with the creativity and talent that was constant through such a multifaceted show, and the band certainly must have felt a sense of freedom doing something so different from what they would normally.
Queens of the Stone Age (Detroit, MI 10/3/25) set list:
Crickets Intro (intro tape)
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Running Joke/Paper Machete
Kalopsia
Villains of Circumstance
Suture Up Your Future
I Never Came
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Someone's in the Wolf/A Song for the Dead/Straight Jacket Fitting
Mosquito Song
Keep Your Eyes Peeled
Spinning in the Daffodils (Them Crooked Vultures)/The Blood Is Love (tease)
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"You Got a Killer Scene There, Man..."
Hideaway
The Vampyre of Time and Memory
Autopilot
Easy Street
Fortress
...Like Clockwork
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Long Slow Goodbye
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