Queens of the Stone Age: Ottawa Bluesfest, Ottawa, ON, July 8, 2014

By Ben Filipkowski

Back in April, when Queens of the Stone Age were announced to play the 20^th annual Ottawa Bluesfest, I knew I had to go.

By the time the show rolled around though, heavy rain threatened to delay the Queens’ set like it had so many other artists that day. Somehow, at a quarter to nine, the thunderstorms stopped, Styx finally stopped playing, and QotSA could finally take the stage. We were in for a treat.

The Queens weren’t the headliner (that honour went to aging rock band Foreigner), but they could’ve been. Things kicked off with the driving “Millionaire,” barely pausing for breath before the jaunty march of “No One Knows.” This is pretty standard for them, but it’s also really effective. You’re there, and you’re with them all the way.

“Isn’t this beautiful?” asked frontman Josh Homme as the applause faded. “The sky cracked open above us.”

He was right, the clouds had given away to a great sunset over Gatineau, a huge double rainbow stretching over Ottawa itself.

It was fitting stuff for the next number, “My God Is the Sun,” the lead single off last year’s outstanding …Like Clockwork. The hits kept coming with the bluesy “Burn the Witch” (now a decade old) and swaggering “Smooth Sailing.”

“Monster in the Parasol” was up next, a punky number from their sophomore album that hasn’t been pulled out too often of late. At this mid-point of their set, things seemed to settle into a more predictable rhythm. “I Sat by the Ocean” is a great song, but seemed almost misplaced in this setlist. No matter because “If I Had a Tail” made up for it with a darkly soulful groove, before Homme swapped his guitar for a piano on “The Vampyre of Time and Memory,” featuring a weeping lead solo by guitarist Dean Fertita.

“Little Sister” drove the crowd nuts, and rightly so (who doesn’t love cowbell?), before Homme let his inner crooner show on “Make it Wit Chu.” “Feel Good Hit of the Summer” was up to bring the energy back, as was the underrated gem “Lost Art of Keeping a Secret.”

The lean and mean set came to a close with a thunderous take on “A Song for the Dead,” juddering starts and stops mixed with screaming guitars, all over a steady beat lifted right from Black Flag’s “Slip It In.” This was the band firing on all cylinders and giving back to the crowd that had braved the rain to see them.

Foreigner followed them on the opposite stage, the headlining spot the Queens should have had, but it took a solid three minutes before anyone watching the Queens had any idea Foreigner were even playing, such was the feedback they pulled from their guitars as they walked off to thunderous applause.