For Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, the band’s recent Boston show marked a triumphant return to the road after the singer revealed a near-death experience earlier this year.
“Thank you Boston, thank you so much,” Homme said while receiving a standing ovation from a sold-out room at the Boch Center Wang Theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 8.
“You’re making me blush,” the rock star said. “I love you too. We love you too. Thank you so much for coming tonight, you look fantastic.”
QOTSA was in Boston as part of The Catacombs Tour, which kicked off on Oct. 2 in Chicago, Illinois. The tour is in support of the band’s most recent EP, “Alive in the Catacombs.”
The project was recorded inside the Catacombs of Paris in July 2024 and made the band the first rock act to officially play inside the venue, according to an article by Mr Porter.
“The Catacombs became a joke,” the 52-year-old told the outlet. “I would say, ‘We’re going to Europe again, who wants to go to the Catacombs?’ It seemed as though it would never happen. But I definitely have a knack for not quitting — it might be my only real talent.”
QOTSA’s tour strives to recreate this eerie yet stunning setting, which which hold the remains of more than six million people. The band’s live setting featured dim lighting, reverberating natural sounds, a small orchestra and several props that made for a captivating experience both visually and sonically.
Fans who attended the show called it “the best concert I’ve been to” and “the most hauntingly, theatrical, beautiful performance” on social media.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been speechless at a concert the way I was last night. Thank you for a night I’ll never forget,” another fan commented on QOTSA’s Instagram post.
“I am deeply and completely moved by what I saw last night,” another fan commented. “At one point, the entire place was rapt and silent — for Josh singing. Perfection. Absolute musical perfection.”
Homme also told fans that he was recently “thinking about how you’re only young one time, and then you’re just a goddamn adult” the rest of one’s life.
Homme then proceeded to remind the crowd that while it’s important to recognize death, it’s equally important to live life to the fullest. This is something the singer understands all too well.
“I’m not so much afraid to die, but I’m afraid to throw my life away,” Homme said. “And so, we come here to play together…and we want you to have a good time and play with us too.”
In 2023, Homme successfully recovered from cancer after being diagnosed in 2022. He also previously “died on the operating table” during knee surgery in 2010, according to Mr Porter.
“Some people deal with death by ignoring it,” Homme told the outlet. “Denying its existence, daring it. Then there are others [who] drag their fingers along the edge. I’ve had a few near-death experiences. I shut my eyes, it’s at my fingertips.”
However, Homme’s most recent illness left the rock singer bedridden for several months. The health scare came when QOTSA was about to record “Alive in the Catacombs.”
“I was in a very difficult physical spot, and I’m really thankful that I was, actually,” Homme said an interview with Consequence this past July. “I couldn’t think about anything else but where we were. It’s better that I was unwell, because I think if I was well, we would’ve maybe been more ‘California’ about it and thought ‘Man, it’s so cool to be here…’ And something about that kind of sucks.”
The frontman decided to fight through his ailment, which Homme deliberately kept vague for privacy. He then flew back home and was sedated for emergency surgery less than a day later. The surgery ultimately forced the band to cancel the remainder of their 2024 tour.
“I performed in the Catacombs, and within about 20 hours I was being sedated and put under,” Homme told Consequence. “Then I spent the next seven months in bed. I had a lot of time to think, you know? I was told I was gonna spend 18 months, two years there, so I was not excited.”
However, doctors told Homme that he was going to recover by December. When he heard that news, the singer said he “felt like a rodeo bull leaning on the gate.”
“It’s like, when you open this (expletive) gate, I’m gonna run. I’m gonna run,” he told Consequence.
Homme is now continuing his run on the “Catacombs Tour.” The next stop on the tour is in Milan, Italy on Saturday. QOTSA will be back in the U.S. next month, starting off with their performance at SEMA Fest in Las Vegas on Nov. 7.