Queens Of The Stoneage & Friends In Finsbury Park London 30.06.2018

 

Queens Of The Stoneage & Friends

Finsbury Park

London

30.06.2018

 

 

 

Last year these guys toured the UK and for the

 second time running I missed them because I

was somewhere else in the country at another

gig, it just didn't work out with my schedule.

 

 

 

So when 'QOTSA' announced they would be

curating their own festival here in London and

it had some pretty cool special guests in the line

 up, I jumped at the chance to get back

Downtown.

 

 

 

 

1st up on main stage 'Black Honey' yes it is the

'Brighton' 4 piece again only singer 'Izzy

Baxter' is' here in disguise shes dressed in Blue

 Denim Country Bumpkin look, with Cowgirl 

 hat and Bright Blue hair, kicking things off

with the new single 'Only Hurt The Ones I

Love' and then another catchy song 'Dig' all

from the Upcoming new album , they closed

their sun drenched set with 'Hello Today'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a Beautiful day all over the UK we are in a

 Heatwave, theres been no rain for weeks ,No..

 and we're in process of regrasping  the 'World

 Cup' in footballing history ,Yes we are still

talking about Great Britain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everytime this band play they get more fans

and the crowd applauded them on, it was a

good show as I said to you last year 'Ones To

Watch'.

 

 

 

 

Up next 2 Girls from LA 'Deap Vally' 'Lindsey'

 on vocals and 'Julie' on the drums beginning

with song 'Little Baby Beauty Queen', I

remember seeing the girls in festivals in 2014

thinking they're going to do well and they are it

 seems, think along the lines of L7/Hole and

you've got a receipe for updating the 'Riot Girl'

 philosophy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lindsey in Mustard Coloured Catsuit and red

 striped face paint on her cheeks demands

eveyones attention with with outlandish rock

chic skills, and drummer 'Julie' goes wild

without even leaving her drumkit  with her

 stand out wild curly hair Pink and Black

streaks, I remember their raw energy how it

captivated me last time, good choice for the bill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up one of 'Dr Peppers Jaded Hearts Club

 Band'  ,'Miles Kane' hailing from 'Liverpool'

 well 'Birkenhead' his vocals mirror early

'Beatles' he has his third album out in July

'Coup De Grace', he walks on stage confident 

and shirtless, beginning with 'Inhaler' from

'Colour In The Trap' debut album and

'Rearrange',he has  progressed with his live

act so much that its amazing to see a crowd of

newer fans reacting to him in sheer Mania,last

 time I seen him was '2013' in his superb 'Union

 Jack' jacket I remember then the crowd

almost broke the barrier when he got onstage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another great song 'Who We Are' with a sing

along chorus see's the crowd singing and

dancing along specially on my left side we've

started a  girly cheerleading squad for him in

this superb summer atmosphere, 'Miles' teases

the crowd with the opening bars of 'Donna

Summer's Hot Stuff and then full pelt into a

funky 'Kane' style indie style spin on the

song,got to see him again his show is

fantastic!!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh my god can it get better than that?? and yes

 it can enter ..Sweden's 'The Hives' up next a

bizarre sight of a ninja in a black suit with only

 eyeholes on show,  readying their stage

equipment and another on the right hand side

not quite part of the band, but part of the act.

 

 

I've long been a fan of the band 'The Hives'

since '2004-2005' I have loved their total 'Rock

N Roll' abandon in the videos, it works

 amazingly well on stage, I was enthralled when

 they were on the bill. The band zip on stage in

their 'Black & White' suits and kick things off

with 'Come On!!!' followed by single from the

3rd album 'Walk Idiot Walk' from

'Tyranasaurus Hives', it's back to the old skool

for me as 'Howlin Mad Pelle' is off the stage

already and storming down the centre of the

crowd with his mic lead following him for

'Main Offender', He was then everywhere to

right and then back over to us on the left not

too close yet... perhaps whipping us up into 

frenzy  as he rejoins the band for '"Die

Alright'. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Then he's off again over to us this time

everyone grabs him as he passes I get a high

 five I thought  Wow waited 13 yrs to see them

again the pace of the show is eclectic there is

some funny banter when 'Pelle' changes the

subject "So Brexit..", the crowd boo "What it

 wasn't my idea to put an ocean between us "

then the most amazing thing during 'Hate To

Say I Told You So' as 'Howlin Mad Pelle' walks

 straight towards me puts his hand on my left

shoulder turns round and sits backwards on

the barrier leaving me trying to hoist his legs

 up , He's a tall guy ...everyone else to the right

 had no idea what he was doing such the

entertainer that he is, he wanders off

again ...this has got to be the craziest thing that

has happened to me at a show .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Tick Tick Boom' starts up and he's soon off

again down the centre of the crowd mic lead

running free telling everyone that he is the

king  and the crowd  have to kneel to the king

 (it wasn't said in a arrogant manner he was

funny), so we all try to crouch down low til the

 band tell us to jump people are actually

obeying all around ,but I'm mindful not to lose

my place on the front, we all leap to our feet the

 crowd gets tight after that, it seems they love

us back too and they bowed and thanked us .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stage is cleared again with inflatable props

 for 'Run The Jewels' 2 hands in a scissors

 stone gesture, for the trio of rappers and djs

from 'Brooklyn' USA, they arrive in front of

mainly "Rock" crowd not their fan base

obviously so they worked hard to get people

involved and used speeches about Feminism

and Political themes to unite us they did a good

 job and it didn't incite rowdiness however the

next act did raise those levels a bit higher in

that respect.

 

 

 

'Iggy' is on stage , also shirtless in the

 heatwave  wearing khaki trousers he is only 5

ft something but he is 'The Godfather Of Punk'

 and at 71 Yes.. he shows no sign of slowing

down either he begins with 'I Wanna Be Your

Dog' by his ex band 'The Stooges' his sound

remains true to his 'Stooges' identity which is

commendable, caution tape is wrapped round 

across the middle section by security cutting

the sides off not a problem for 'Iggy' as tears

through it and runs down the crowd like a

escaped animal and across the platforms to

greet his eager fans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 He sings 'The Passenger', the crowd are going

 wild, leaving the stage staff to quickly rush to

 unravel it before he runs out of cord as  he

decides "I'm over this place guys". He moves

over to the stage and steps down again onto his

left  in front of me he walks right past me the

least I can do is greet him with my High Fives

so I do he's a legend !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back onto the stage dancing as 'Lust  For Life'

starts up another song from the 'Trainspotting'

 Franchise  its clear he's crossed the

generations  by the young faces in the crowd

it's insane now its getting squashy again since

he arrived, later on more 'Stooges ' classics

'Search & Destroy' and he ended things with

what else a 'David Bowie' cover 'Jean Genie',

he was very polite and gracious to the crowd,

he rewarded us by picking up the mic stand

and smashing it to the ground managing only to

 bend it in the middle he smiles at the crowd

and lthen he reluctantly leaves what a

performer .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's almost time for the main act, what an

 amazing day so far and , it was overwhelming

 to think we are nearly at the end,stage set up

and ready with the props and lighting poles

 positioned all  around the main stage, it's still

only 8.15pm not even dark, and the strains of

'Singing In The Rain' by Gene Kelly and some

music from A Clockwork Orange welcome the

band onto the stage 'Josh Homme' arrives over

 to the right hand side he takes one look and the

 sellout crowd and picks up his Green coloured

 guitar to begin 'The Lost Art Of Keeping A

Secret'.

 

 

 

 

 Oh my god this is the song that got me into the

band in the first place, the crowd go ballistic

I've suddenly I've got no air to breathe

I'm singing along and already badly squashed

 up there were people pushing from both sides

where there was no push room, its goes up a

notch again for 'Go With The Flow' (oh have

mercy) I'm actually out of my depth now as my

 bones are momentarily crushed against the

barrier but this band are so awesome I'm

happy to die for them.

 

 

 

 

I'm actually on tip toes now this'll be good for

 my already over muscley calves I think but the

 cramp in the morning will be on another

scale!!as I'm frantically holding on for dear life

 the ride has begun as 'Sick Sick Sick' which is

 now my theme tune for survival as I manage to

 push my bag in front to prevent my ribs

getting further crushed , my only saving grace

here was there were not continuous crowd

surfers, ironically  the next track was  'Feet

Don't Fail Me' from Villians ...Haha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Josh' is working his best 'Bowiesque' vocals on

 this and other track from that pivotal album,

the poles on stage now are lit in Orange, Red,

and Green reminding me of a nod to 'Origin Of

 Symmetry' artwork how they were placed,

 next song from 'Like Clockwork' 'My God

Is The Sun' followed by classic 'In The Fade'

and  then 'No One Knows' and my fav track

from 'Like Clockwork'.. 'Smooth Sailing'.

 

 

 

 

 

 Later on 'Josh' communicates with the crowd 

 during my all time fav 'QOTSA' song 'Make It

 Wit Chu', he gets the guys to sing the chorus

 and then the girls to sing the chorus and then

all of us together, he smiles over to us and he

introduces everyone by name in the band, the

crowd make a song up for drummer 'Dean'

which 'Josh' likes so he lets us sing it "Deanno

Deanno" it amuses him.

 

 

 

 He goes on to tell us that it's the Bass

Guitarists birthday so we sing "Happy

Birthday" to him he seems moved by the

gesture. It makes me forget how much

excruciating pain I was in it was certainly

worth it even though I didn't get many good

photos I could not move and keep the camera

on my phone still I was lucky to get these shots

so sorry they're shitty but hey.. I had a great

time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The encore was  amazing as the crowd yelled

 More ..More..!! the band return for title track

 'Songs For The Deaf' and then 'Songs For The

 Dead', 'Josh' kicks out at the lit poles in a

burst of rock spirited wild abandon, I'm in

awe,what a band so glad I finally got to see

them play live,heaven knows when they will

return to the  U.K. this is the end of 'Villians'

Tour in the UK now except for 'Eden

Sessions' in 'Cornwall' but my advice is see

them because they are magnificent dudes.

 

Lmi xo