Queens Of The Stone Age – Live 6/11/25
Live at MGM Music Hall /Fenway in Boston, Massachusetts USA *June 11th 2025*
My friend Sam and his wife Natalie invited me to go see Queens Of The Stone Age in Boston this past Wednesday night. It has been nearly 22 years since I saw the band live. It was in support of their classic 2002’s Songs For The Deaf album, ironically in Boston at a much smaller venue, The Avalon. Honestly, I stopped following the band after their fourth release, 2005’s Lullabies To Paralyze. I have heard bits and pieces of songs since then but I never bothered to check those other albums out. I really love their 1998 Self Titled debut, 2000’s Rated R is great, and the already mentioned Songs For The Deaf. After Lullaby’s, I moved on to other things as the band’s popularity continued to grow. Their other recordings include: 2007’s Era Vulgaris, 2013’s …Like Clockwork, 2017’s Villians, and 2023’s In Times New Roman….
The parking situation in Boston is always a challenge, but when the Red Sox are playing a home game the same night as a show, forget it! It becomes a total shit show. We ended up parking about ten minutes of walking distance from the venue, which is located right across from Fenway Park. The lots near by were charging $55 and were all full. We found one down the street for $40. The MGM Music Hall is a decent size place and it has an incredible sound system. We arrived just as the opening band finished their set, in time for Queens to set up.
Say whatever you want about Queens Of The Stone Age, but you can’t deny the huge impact that they have had on the heavy underground hard rock music scene. Obviously Kyuss are the legendary band that helped pioneer the sound of this generation of heavy stoner rock but QOTSA are equally important, in my opinion. Josh Homme is a driving force in both of those bands and the influence that his guitar playing and songwriting has had is undeniable. His musical style, sound, and influence is so massive that you can hear it through many of the bands that exist today.
The band opened with “Little Sister” from Lullabies To Paralyze. They sounded fantastic throughout their eighteen song setlist. Josh Homme’s voice was excellent as was his guitar playing. He always seems to get exceptional musicians backing him up and this was definitely the case here. He had the help of two other guitarists, one who also switched over to keys and synths periodically, and also an excellent drummer and bassist. The band sounded really tight and played between an hour and a half to two hours straight. They didn’t do any bullshit encore and Homme was very charismatic and joking with the audience in between songs. It seemed like the band was really enjoying themselves and the crowd reaction was very responsive and positive.
I wish I was more familiar with the newer songs but despite that, it still sounded great. Some of the highlights for me included “The Sky Is Fallin’” from Songs From The Deaf and “The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret” from Rated R. However, it was the last three cuts that really moved me, starting with “Go With The Flow”. They proceeded to kill with “No One Knows” and one of my favorites, “A Song For The Dead” (R.I.P. Mark Lanegan). All three of these songs are off of the Songs For The Deaf album. I wish they would have played something off of the Self Titled but I wasn’t really expecting it. Overall, Queens Of The Stone Age delivered a wonderful performance and I am happy that I got to see them again. I’m not usually into bigger venue shows and I much prefer the smaller dive bar atmosphere, but this was a great time for sure.
