hello rockers and freaks. i recently saw queens of the stone age live in dallas for my 18th birthday and i am buzzing with things to say about it. i can’t keep it in any longer or else i’ll explode and there will be a huge mess to clean up so lets get into it.
i love this band
ok so. it’s actually crazy thinking about how much i’ve loved this band my entire life. like, as a sixth grader, i would write down the lyrics to “go with the flow” all over my notes and get in serious trouble. i would sit in the backseat and blast the album “songs for the deaf” and pretend like i was the coolest little guy ever. well, i pretty much was. still am. anyways. i’ve gotten some of their albums on vinyl and learned so many of their songs on guitar. i’ve been a fan for the longest. well, the weekend of my birthday i went home but had to stop by my dad’s house to pick up my laptop (i fell down in the hallway during cleaning night and broke it and begged him to fix it) and when i walked into the house he showed me what he got me for my 18th. two tickets to see queens of the stone age live in dallas. i didn’t even know they were TOURING so of course i was all over it. i don’t travel much at all and i’ve never been to texas so i was super excited about getting to go to another state. the best part was that the concert wasn’t even that far away: it would be sunday, december 10th. well, it’s three days after the fact and the concert was so damn good that i’m still pretending like i’m still there (and secretly ordering tickets to see them again).
the concert
the concert was at the pavillion at the toyota music factory and me and my dad had two seats together in section 303 (the back section). despite being in the back, we really weren’t far from the stage at all. i could see all of josh homme from where i was (though i wish i could see even more of his face) (he’s my man who isn’t my man but is kinda my man). my only complaint about the venue was the sound wasn’t the best (the bass wasn’t as loud as it should have been in the back) and the crowd wasn’t as energetic as they should have been. me and the people in front of me however were absolutely into it. we did not care. i do think the opener, spiritualized, is part at fault for this though. while i don’t think it was a bad set, it definitely was a mood drainer. he sat down the entire time and lots of his songs were moody and slow, a complete opposite to the composition of queens of the stone age songs. anyways. the doors opened at 5:30, spirtualized was at 7:00, and queens came on around 8:30. i missed half of the opener because me and my dad were outside buying merch (the hoodie i’ve been wearning nonstop this week). still, i got as much as i could handle of that guy. the wait in between the end of the opener and the start of queens absolutely crushed me. my last concert was in 2019, and i have been begging to go to another ever since– and now it was finally happening. i tried not to get sick (in a good way) when i heard the beginning notes of the intro song. the entire concert was so good, i can barely describe it. one of my favorite moments was when someone in the crowd threw josh homme a die with tons of song names on it and he threw it to see what song he would play next. it landed on an unreleased song and he said “not that one” (sadly). then, he looked at the die and settled on “avon”, a song from their first album. i’ll write the setlist later, but basically they played all of my favorites EXCEPT the very two songs i was hoping they’d play: in the fade and sat by the ocean. that’s okay tho, because they played sick sick sick. i could genuinely keep going on and on about this concert, but i’m just going to end it on the fact that i haven’t listened to a single artist BESIDES this band since the concert. i wish i was still there with my entire being.
the setlist
if you’re a queens fan this is for you, and if you aren’t, well i guess this is a list of songs you need to listen to then.
- Regular John
- No One Knows
- Monsters in the Parasol
- Smooth Sailing
- My God Is the Sun
- Emotion Sickness
- If I Had a Tail
- Time & Place
- Into The Hollow
- Carnavoyeur
- Avon
- Sick, Sick, Sick
- I Think I Lost My Headache
- Paper Machete
- Domesticated Animals
- Make It Wit Chu
- Little Sister
- God Is in the Radio
- Go With the Flow
- Song for the Dead
( link to official setlist w/ talking notes: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/queens-of-the-stone-age/2023/the-pavilion-at-toyota-music-factory-irving-tx-2bae2826.html )
photos
ok here are some photos i took from the show !!
videos
just going to preface this by saying all the videos linked were not taken by me! but i am going to link some moments other people recorded from the show. and yes, i did record my own videos, i just don’t feel like putting them here lol.
here is when a fan threw josh the die with song names on it:
and here’s a couple songs that were played live!
yeah so that’s everything !! i’m excited i have an outlet to talk about this concert and how much it meant to me. hope you enjoyed reading !!! rock on
I’m glad you got to experience that and I’m glad you had a good time:)
I loved hearing about your experience it seemed amazing
Although I am not in tune with the band the lights look really cool and I’m glad you had a great time!