Queens Of The Stone Age tease ‘Alive In The Catacombs’ Paris live release

Queens Of The Stone Age are teasing a new live release titled ‘Alive In The Catacombs’. Check out the previews below.

• READ MORE: Queens of The Stone Age: “This album sounds as brutal as it feels to be alive right now”

The forthcoming project will presumably document Josh Homme and co’s show at the historic Catacombs of Paris last year. It is reported that the set was an “unplugged session” without an audience, which was being recorded for future broadcast.

Earlier this week, QOTSA shared a brief atmospheric video that was shot at the underground ossuaries in the French capital – where the remains of more than six million people are housed.

The clip sees water dripping in the dimly lit tunnels, followed by a close-up shot of a human skull. Later, the silhouette of Homme emerges out of the darkness as he walks down the hall.

The title “Queen Of The Stone Age – Alive In The Catacombs” is displayed at the end of the teaser, before fans are told that it is “coming soon”. Per the caption, the show was filmed by Paris-based production company La Blogothèque. QOTSA have instructed fans to sign up to their newsletter for more information.

In a similar but slightly longer follow-up video, viewers see Homme singing into an old-fashioned microphone. “Coming sooner,” reads the title of that upload. See both previews below.

The Catacombs have been open for public visitation since the 19th century, and remain a popular tourist attraction in Paris. Queens Of The Stone Age were the first band to perform there.

When announcing the special performance in 2024, Homme explained: “I’ve been working on it for 18 years, trying to get myself inside of this exalted place in Paris. And it’s completely live.

“I’d like to take some of these ideas, which are sort of ubiquitous – like a live record – and do something a little different with them. Because I think with the way the internet is, people can see us play live so simply, in so many different ways, that I’d like to do something live that cannot be seen in a way that is not often done.”

• READ MORE: Queens Of The Stone Age live in London: Josh Homme turns on the charm

He continued: “And we release those versions. And let the fans control the rest. The fans can control the rest of how to see us live. Come see us play, watch it online. I don’t care how a baby takes his medicine – blown up the ass or down the throat. However you find our music and however you wanna find it is fine for me, but I would like to try to do some of these ideas in a different way. So, that’s why I mentioned the Catacombs.”

Meanwhile, Queens Of The Stone Age are set to play two huge outdoor headline shows at Sheffield’s Rock N Roll Circus this summer, shortly after topping the bill at Victorious Festival in Portsmouth.

The group will embark on a European tour later this year too, where they’ll also appear at numerous festivals such as Øya, Electric Castle, Lowlands, Pukkelpop and Rock En Seine.

QOTSA were forced to cancel some live dates in Europe in 2024, due to frontman Homme needing “emergency surgery”. The singer then returned to the stage last December for a Mark Lanegan tribute concert in London.

Queens’ first show back is currently scheduled for June 10 in Boston, Massachusetts. That same month, they’ll appear at Bonnaroo 2025 in Manchester, Tennessee, among other US dates.

The band released their eighth and latest album, ‘In Times New Roman’, in 2023. In a four-star review, NME wrote: “They’ve pitched their comeback between an emotional exorcism for Homme, but with enough fan-service for the die-hards; this is up there with their darkest, knottiest material to date, and will be appreciated all the more for it.”

Last summer, Homme vowed to “roll his sleeves up” so fans wouldn’t have to wait so long for their next record. There was a six-year gap between 2017’s ‘Villains’ and ‘In Times New Roman’.

In late 2023, Homme and bandmate Dean Fertita opened up to NME about the group and their personal battles, while looking ahead to what’s next.

“I think we should be making something,” Homme explained, some six months on from releasing Queens’ most recent LP. “The mantra of the last five years was, ‘It won’t be long now!’ That needs to pertain to making things too. I certainly think we should make more, faster-er, better-er.”

You can revisit the full video interview for NME‘s In Conversation series above.

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